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THE FIRST GREAT CANADIAN 

THE STORY OF PIERRE LE MOYNE 

SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 




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THE 

FIRST GREAT CANADIAN 

THE STORY OF PIERRE LE MOYNE 

SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 



BT 

CHARLES B. REED 

Author of " The Masters of the Wilderness " 
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS 




CHICAGO 

A. C. McCLURG & CO. 

1910 






COPYKIGHT 

A. C. McCluhg & Co. 
1910 



Published March 19, 1910 



Entered at Stationers* Hall, London, England 
All rights reierved 



4^ 



THE UNIVEHSITT PRESS, OAHBRIDOB, V. S. A. 



/ 



To the gallant comrade of town and 
wilderness^ whose noble elevation of 
mind and broad human sympathies are 
a constant source of inspiration^ this 
monograph is dedicated as a tribute of 
admiration and affection. 



PREFACE 



IN this work for the first time an attempt is made 
to bring together with some approach to accu- 
racy and continuity the scattered incidents in 
the life of Le Moyne d'Iberville. His activities were 
so various and were conducted in such widely sepa- 
rate arenas that it is not surprising that much con- 
fusion and obscurity surround his brief career. It is 
remarkable, however, that in the two centuries that 
have passed since his death no one in France or 
Canada, save only Desmazures, has made any ade- 
quate effort to commemorate and signalize the 
romantic and adventurous career of a man whose 
brave deeds and high ambitions brought wealth, vast 
territories, and great honor to those realms in whose 
behalf his life was spent. His feats of endurance 
and of achievement were so numerous and so ex- 
traordinary as to be wellnigh incredible if they were 
not sustained and vouched for by many unimpeach- 
able testimonies. In a laudable desire to fix his 
place in history he has been variously termed " The 
Cid of New France," "Eobin Hood," the "Jean 
Bart of Canada," and the " Chief of the Maccabees," 



Vi PREFACE 

and while some of these appellations may fittingly 
portray his personality, none of them sufficiently 
connotates the dignity and intrinsic importance of 
his exploits. 

The writer has made no effort to produce an 
analytical and critical biography for which neither 
the inclination nor the records exist, but on the 
other hand he has spared no pains to make the 
narrative as clear, continuous, and complete as 
the documentary evidence would permit. Original 
sources have been sought out and taken for the 
foundation as far as possible, while secondary works 
of authority have been utilized to furnish the back- 
ground and to exhibit the fortunes of the hero in 
their relation to contemporaneous history. All 
veracious material that threw any light upon the 
character of Iberville or his stirring exploits has 
been used with the utmost freedom. 

The writer wishes to acknowledge his indebted- 
ness to Margry's Decouvertes et Etahlissements, etc., 
wherein the original official reports, letters, and 
documents relating to Louisiana and the Mississippi 
expeditions have been laboriously collected and care- 
fully summarized in the scholarly introduction. As 
equally important must be mentioned La Harpe's 
Journal Historique, Penicaut's Narrative, Baudoin's 
Journal, Father Silvy's Relation, the N. Y. Col. Docu- 
ments, the Jesuit Relations of Thwaites (73 vols.), and 
the Histories of La Potherie and Charlevoix. 



PREFACE vii 

Among the secondary works Parkman is, of course, 
preeminent, although the writer feels and gladly 
acknowledges his heavy obligation to the valuable 
labors of Winsor, King, Laut, and Desmazures. To 
Thwaites also the writer is indebted for many of the 
explanatory footnotes which were taken from his 
edition of La Hon tan. Additional works are referred 
to in the bibliography at the end of the volume. 

Thanks for courtesies extended are due to Arthur 
T. Doughty, Dominion Archivist, for the copy of 
Baudoin's Journal, to Judge Prowse for permission 
to use the map of the Newfoundland Campaign, to 
Miss Callaghan, who worked on the manuscript, 
and to Miss Caroline M. Mcllvaine, Librarian of the 
Chicago Historical Society. To the latter organiza- 
tion the writer wishes particularly to express his 
gratitude for the privilege of copying some original 
maps and plates with which to illustrate the text. 

Conscious that errors must exist in spite of every 
care, but feeling, nevertheless, that through this effort 
renewed attention may possibly be directed toward 
the life and labors of a man of strong purpose, tire- 
less industry, and lofty soul, the book is herewith 

submitted. 

C. B. R. 

Chicago, 

February 1, 1910. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. New France 13 

II. The Le Moynes 27 

III. Expedition to Hudson Bat 42 

rV. Schenectady and Further Expeditions to 

Hudson Bay 67 

V. Fort Nelson 86 

VI. The Newfoundland Campaign 97 

VII. Battle of Hudson Bay and the Recapture 

OF Fort Nelson 113 

VIII. Louisiana and the Mississippi 128 

IX, Pensacola 143 

X. The Mouth of the Mississippi 148 

XI. The Identification of the River 160 

XII. The Fort at Biloxi and the Return to France 172 

XIII. The English Expedition and Iberville's 

Return to Biloxi 186 

XIV. The Red River Expedition and the Recon- 

noissance of New York Harbor .... 196 

XV. Affairs of State in France and Spain — The 

Colony moves to Mobile 203 

XVI. Further Projects against the English — 

Death of Iberville 220 

XVII. Conclusion 233 

Bibliography 243 

Index 249 



ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS 



PA6B 



Portrait of Le Moyne d'Iberville Frontispiece 

Canadian on Snowshoes prepared for a Winter Campaign 48 

Chief Hendrick (Iroquois) 70 

Map showing Location of Fort Nelson (York Fort) . . 88 

Iberville's Attack on Fort Nelson 90 

Map of Campaign in Newfoundland, 1696-7 106 

Iberville's Ship, the Pelican^ imprisoned in the ice of 

Hudson Straits 116 

Wreck of the Pelican and Escape of the Ship's Company 

to the Shore, after Battle of Hudson Bay .... 120 

Portion of De Lisle's Map, 1700 130 

Portion of Lt. Ross's Map, made in 1765 174 

Portion of De Lisle's Carte de Louisiana, 1718 .... 226 



THE FIRST GREAT CANADIAN 

THE STORY OF PIERRE LE MOYNE, 
SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 



CHAPTER I 
NEW FRANCE 

FROM the earliest discoveries in America, adven- 
turers of many nationalities had vied with 
one another in the prodigal expenditure of 
time, money, and life itself, to explore the extent 
and exploit the resources of the wonderful New 
World, a world veiled in an aureole of mystery and 
crowned with fabulous tales. 

France among the first sent her hardy sailors and 
daring navigators to determine the truth or falsity 
of the wonders reported. As their acquaintance 
with the New World increased, their pretensions to 
possession expanded until finally it was claimed by 
the French that the domain of New France extended 
from Newfoundland to the Rocky Mountains and 
from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. With 
difficulty could they admit the right of England to 
that little fringe on the Atlantic seaboard, a fringe 
which like the cloud from the jar of the genie was 
to increase and expand until it enveloped the con- 



14 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

tinent. New France therefore was an immense tri- 
angle eleven times the area of the mother country 
and favored by nature with a wealth and abundance 
as limitless as it was various and easily accessible. 
To the west lay the boundless forests, to the north 
the vast fur trade, to the east the priceless fisheries 
of the Grand Banks, while on the south an enchant- 
ing climate and a wonderful fertility of soil furnished 
in great luxuriance all the products of the Tropics. 

The title of France to the possession of this mag- 
nificent realm was based with much justice on the 
feats of her sailors and explorers. From Verazzano 
(1524) and Cartier (1534) to Roberval (1542) and 
Champlain (1601), from discovery and exploration 
to colonization and exploitation, the line of descent 
was clear and unquestioned and supported further- 
more by her settlements. The focus of her activity, 
the nucleus which justified as much as might be the 
universality of the French claim, was the group of 
settlements along the lower St. Lawrence. Quebec 
and Montreal were the points in which the fur trade 
of France centred and the bases from which her emis- 
saries took their departure. Her claim to the coun- 
try adjacent to the Great Lakes and the Mississippi 
basin excited at first only vague and sleepy objections, 
but when under the bold, far-seeing Frontenac, La 
Salle, Du Luth and others attempted to take posses- 
sion of these regions and hold them with a line of 
forts, the English saw their commerce in furs cut off, 



NEW FRANCE 15 

their Indian trade destroyed, and their position turned. 
Then the enemy was aroused and the claim was 
vigorously contested. 

From those English settlements along the Atlantic 
which France acknowledged were held by right of 
possession if not by title, sturdy adventurers threaded 
the passes and pushed steadily across the Alleghanies 
to dispossess the French, an operation which in the 
north lasted with some intermissions for over seventy 
years. From Florida and Mexico, too, came ominous 
growls and snarling protests from the haughty old 
Spaniards who saw in this movement encroachments, 
which they were too feeble to resent, on the realm 
secured to Spain by the priority of De Soto and wrung 
by the conquering Cortez from the exhausted Incas. 

Among the shifting scenes and changing figures of 
the New World the lines of interest were very clearly 
drawn. Rightfully jealous of both English and French, 
but particularly arrayed against the latter, in bitter 
memory of Champlain's attacks, was the great Iro- 
quois * Confederacy, which for half a century kept the 
French settlements in dread and their allies in terror. 
These Indians living just south of Lake Ontario con- 
stituted a kind of buffer between the English and 
French colonies, and no nation could have been se- 
lected more willing or better prepared to perform that 



* "Iroquois" was a title bestowed by the French ; the tribesmen 
called themselves " People of the Long House " ; while to the English 
they were known as the " Five Nations." 



16 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

office. With an intelligence and foresight far above 
that of their neighbors and unique in Indian annals, 
these five tribes, named, respectively, the Mohawks, 
Onondagas, Cayugas, Oneidas, and Senecas, had 
formed an offensive and defensive alliance known as 
the Five Nations or the Iroquois Confederacy. From 
their advantageous location, they were within easy 
trading distance of the English and easy striking dis- 
tance of the French. 

Attracted by the personal ascendancy of the Eng- 
lish Governors, an ascendancy which only Frontenac 
was able to nullify, and held by self-interest to the 
superior trading facilities, they formed a more or less 
inconstant coalition with the English to limit the 
power, restrict the growing settlements, and resist the 
encroachments of France. In this league the atti- 
tude of the English and their Dutch allies was the 
result not only of local jealousies and rival conditions 
of trade but more particularly the outgrowth of Euro- 
pean contests, begun and continued in European in- 
terest. In the absence of such provocations, it is 
probable that both colonies would have lived and 
thrived largely in peace, except for such conflicts as 
grew out of the ever-alluring fur trade. 

Louis XIV, through such of his Governors as he 
could imbue with a national rather than a personal 
interest, was working for the aggrandizement of 
France, a purpose which included also New France 
so far as European politics and the drain of Euro- 



NEW FRANCE 17 

pean wars would permit. He was eager also for that 
storied wealth of the New World as a support to his 
exhausted treasury, but in particular he aimed to 
form a mailed fist which he could thrust at will into 
the face of England. The Canadian Noblesse, by 
reason of their origin and by natural sympathy, were 
generally found loyally supporting and zealously for- 
warding the designs of the King as represented by 
the Government at Quebec. This was not always 
true of that other large and influential faction com- 
posed of the Clericals and led by the Jesuits. This 
party was striving with every energy and all its im- 
mense influence to hold and, if possible, to increase its 
power. It was an effort to obtain in New France 
that complete religious ascendancy which was denied 
at home. The Jesuits also labored for an additional 
strength and leverage in the Huron Nation on Geor- 
gian Bay, where they were rapidly converting this 
offshoot of the Iroquois Stock into a Catholic de- 
pendency with French affiliations. 

The colonists were the pawns which were moved 
and changed, swayed and divided, as their inclina- 
tions were enlisted or their force required by the 
union or conflict or parallelism of interests. All 
local issues were subordinate to European demands 
and policies. Both King and Cleric rejoiced in the 
growth of the colony along Catholic lines, and they 
were both instrumental in augmenting it with ship- 
loads of approved immigrants. The numerical in- 



18 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

crease was further favored by offering rewards for 
the encouragement of marriage and the growth of 
large families and by placing heavy penalties upon 
the celibate. Both were interested in the wide ex- 
ploration and exploitation of the interior; the King 
because it extended his boundaries and increased his 
wealth ; the Jesuit because it broadened and solidified 
his influence. The Jesuits themselves bore no small 
part of this burden, and their enthusiastic devotion 
and rigid obedience carried them, either alone or with 
the foraying Noblesse, through the Great Lakes, 
down the long river valleys, and across the pathless 
wilderness to remote portions of the New World 
which they ofttimes consecrated with their blood. 

The coureurs de hois and especially the Noblesse, 
comprising such partisan leaders as Verendrye, Du 
Luth, Montigny, La Salle, and the Le Moynes, spent 
their lives in the same hazardous manner. These 
are conspicuous names in American history. Unin- 
spired by religious fervor but driven by love of 
travel and adventure, by the demands of their 
fur trade and their own high courage, they kept 
the forests alive with intrepid wanderers. The 
Noblesse was composed of seigniors, or proprie- 
tors, who as a result of wealth, prominence, influence, 
or services to the State had received a grant of land 
and a title from the Crown. They in turn furthered 
the feudal idea by securing vassals to cultivate the 
soil, who were known as habitants. It is from the 



NEW FRANCE 19 

ranks of the Noblesse that many of the most daring 
of the forest rangers, explorers, and warriors have 
been recruited. " On the Great Lakes, on the plains 
of the Northwest, on the shores of Acadia they are 
found tracing unknown streams, piercing the wilder- 
ness, trading, fighting, negotiating, and building forts. 
It was they and such as they who discovered the 
Rocky Mountains, the source and mouth of the Mis- 
sissippi, the Ohio, and the Missouri, and who founded 
such cities as Detroit, St. Louis, and New Orleans." * 
As far as possible colonization, the establishment 
of depots, forts, and villages, was made to keep pace 
with exploration. Thus at Tadousac, Quebec, Three 
Rivers, Montreal, La Chine, and Fort Frontenac, the 
line extended inward along the St. Lawrence, ever 
deeper and yearly stronger. Hindered and poorly sup- 
ported by France, beleaguered, assaulted, and some- 
times overwhelmed by enemies, the establishments 
nevertheless took strong root and sent shoots south 
and east along the Richelieu River and Acadian 
coast toward the rival colonies in New England. 
The settlements themselves constituted an interesting 
experiment in sociology. Many groups of people 
living in feudal dependence were transported with all 
their habits, customs, ideals, beliefs, and traditions 
into a strange environment wherein nothing recalled 
their previous life except the religious belief and the 
social customs which they brought with them. 
* Parkman. 



20 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

The character of this society was thoroughly ro- 
mantic and mediaeval. There were knights, nobles, 
priests, pilgrims, nuns, and mendicant friars, each 
more or less on the defensive against the others and 
all warring against the paynim and the heretic and 
the robber barons of the neighboring rocky pinnacles 
to the south. Troubadours, knights errant, and dis- 
tressed damsels were there in abundance to increase 
the romantic glamour. These classes dwelt under 
the iron rule of the King and in the leash of mediae- 
val Catholicism, the purpose and design of both being 
to destroy individuality and reduce all to a common 
malleable type. 

In retrospect it would seem that the result could 
not have been unexpected. The Government, which 
had been retaining a thick fluid substance in its 
feudal flask, now beheld a sieve in its hand which 
leaked beyond control. Always on the least suspicion 
of pressure, knights and nobles took to the woods, 
the more adventurous spirits to become coureurs de 
hois J the knights errant of the wilderness, while the 
others married squaws, joined the tribes, and became 
Indians in all but name, — true pilgrims of the 
forest. 

The colonies, both English and French, were 
greatly handicapped by the control of their home 
Governments, both of which had approximately the 
same theories and ideas. The wisdom of coloniza- 
tion was definitely recognized and materially aided, 



NEW FRANCE 21 

but the colonies were expected to develop only along 
such lines and by such methods as best suited the 
paternalism of the Fatherland, and only such meas- 
ures were approved as seemed advantageous to King 
and Nation, and to the favorites and industries of the 
European base. As a consequence every industry of 
the new colony was the subject of most oppressive 
restrictions, and all commerce and trade was con- 
trolled by monopolies. This protective spirit was 
more seriously felt by the French than by the English 
colonists, since the latter to their great advantage 
had been left frequently to themselves, while the 
attention of their English Majesties was diverted by 
revolutions; but in France, Church and State were 
sympathetically united in a common and constant 
policy of meddlesome and oppressive interference. 
In obedience to authority the French colonies de- 
veloped, and for the maintenance of authority the 
colony was controlled abroad and received its great 
men from the nobility of France with such perfect 
regularity that for over one hundred years no 
Canadian achieved national eminence. The only 
advantage of the system was that it favored military 
ejBiciency; but while this latter condition presents 
many desirable features as an accessory to govern- 
ment it is a repeatedly demonstrated failure as the 
sole and permanent support of the State. The 
Canadian population sprang in a great measure from 
soldiers and was born in the midst of warfare which 



22 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

every son was expected to continue. Thus the more 
efficiency the population as a whole acquired in a 
military sense, the less efficient it became in the true 
colonial sense. The result was restriction rather than 
development, and involution rather than evolution. 

New France was united against the English, 
Dutch, and Iroquois, but there were intervals in 
which the Clericals, the colonists, and the King's 
representatives, animated by self-interest or pro- 
voked by sense of duty, waged an internecine con- 
flict. Communication with France being possible 
only during the Summer, the long Winters enabled 
the warfare between priest, intendant, and governor 
general to reach a stage acute enough to inter- 
est and involve the entire colony. The force of 
iron as represented by militarism and the sword 
was striving with the force clerical as represented 
by the priests, for rule and sway in New France; 
but a new force stronger than either and destined 
to dominate was silently instilling its subtle poison 
into castle and hovel, into high and low. The 
desire for gold that levels all ranks, shapes the 
future, develops commerce, promotes industry, in- 
cites to exploration, and impels to conquest, now 
took the form of the fur trade. The lawless 
coureurs de hois, attaching themselves first to one 
faction and then to another as self-interest required, 
ebbed and flowed through the vast channels of the 
forest enthralled by the ^ romance and dangers of 



NEW FRANCE 23 

the game which was the most fascinating, prevalent, 
and remunerative occupation in the colony. For one 
hundred and seventy-five years the economic interests 
of Canada were subordinate to the passionate pursuit 
of the fur trade, and it was much longer before they 
recovered from the effects of that imperial domina- 
tion. Like every other industry this too was ruled 
from the beginning by monopoly and by restrictions 
that ill suited the bolder spirits, and increased very 
materially the hazards of the game which secretly or 
openly all were playing with the utmost concentra- 
tion. With two such absorbing pursuits as war and 
the fur trade (or war for the fur trade) furnishing 
continual opportunities to the colonists, it is no 
wonder that agriculture was practically abandoned 
by this versatile and mercurial people. 

Besides the conflict with neighboring colonies 
which fluctuated according to European policy and 
local necessity, war was always at the gates, through 
the relentless activity of the blood-thirsty Iroquois. 
Relying upon their splendid organization and a re- 
markable individual ferocity, an Iroquois war party 
was always in motion. In 1640 their various desul- 
tory expeditions began to crystallize into a definite 
purpose of exterminating their neighbors, and they 
then began that mad quest for scalps which ended 
only with complete desolation. Like insensate ma- 
niacs they threw themselves with homicidal fury 
against every Indian nation far or near. The very 



24 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

existence of other tribes, no matter how inoffensive, 
was a source of anger to the Iroquois. First the 
Hurons, then numbering about ten thousand, went 
down before repeated onslaughts, and the battered 
fragments were driven, some to Mackinac and Lake 
Superior and some to Quebec, where even the shadow 
of that frowning rock furnished insufficient protec- 
tion against the unrelenting animosity of their 
enemies. With that appalling disaster a blight fell 
upon the hopes and ambitions of the Jesuits whose 
success among the Hurons had inspired the belief 
that they could people the interior of the continent 
with christianized Indians true to the Faith and 
France, and erect a bulwark against Protestant and 
English aggression. After the ruin of the Hurons, 
the Iroquois destroyed in turn the Eries, the Tobacco 
Nation, the Neutrals, and the Andastes, until the 
great Confederacy remained alone in a peace that 
was a solitude. Their thirst for blood being unap- 
peased, they now devoted an attention previously 
divided between the French colonists and their 
Indian allies, entirely to the colonists, and with such 
success that appeal after appeal was sent to France 
for help. The King finally responded, and as much 
to preserve the colony from extinction as to relieve it 
from the necessity of constant warfare, the victorious 
Carignan Regiment fresh from European wars under 
the great Turenne was sent to play its conspicuous 
role in the New World. 



NEW FRANCE 25 

So the colony grew, and Quebec gave place to 
Three Rivers as the bulwark on the border, until, in 
1642, Montreal was founded on the island of that 
name, and this became in turn the defendant of the 
frontier. This settlement really owes its importance, 
in fact all its subsequent prosperity, to the nourish- 
ing care of Maisonneuve, its founder, who spent over 
twenty years of his life in its service. In 1646 it 
had a population of less than one hundred, and in 
twenty years it had increased only to something less 
than five hundred people. At that time, however, 
it constituted a most advantageous post, the distant 
sentinel of the French, located one hundred and 
eighty miles toward the frontier from Quebec and in 
the very midst of the savages. A more beautiful 
situation could not have been chosen. The village 
was composed of little one-story houses located on 
streets running parallel to the water and intersected 
by others which ran directly to the river. It was 
originally placed on a slight elevation only a few 
yards from the shore where the mighty St. Lawrence 
rolled in majesty its ample flood, while on the oppo- 
site side of the island a small offshoot from the 
mouth of the Ottawa River guarded the settlement 
against surprise and made the site ideally strong for 
defence. Behind the village and sheltering it from 
the north winds were the heights of Mount Royal 
(Montreal) covered with trees and descending like an 
amphitheatre to the fertile, flower-strewn prairies at 



26 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

its foot. Opposite the village lay the two islands, 
St. H^l^ne and St. Paul, which served as outposts on 
the river front, while the panorama was completed 
by the range of hills and mountains that reared a 
series of emerald domes across the river to the south. 

Montreal was bound to Quebec by mutual ties and 
dangers, and though numerically feeble the settle- 
ments were strong in spirit and formed the twin 
heads of New France, even as Boston and New York 
formed the backbone of the English and Dutch colonies. 
These latter colonies, moreover, furnished the main 
antagonism to the designs of Louis XIV as conceived 
and interpreted by Frontenac and La Salle, and stren- 
uously developed by that rarely capable officer whose 
fortunes form the substance of this narrative. Thus 
inspired by the jealousies, hatreds, and ambitions of 
European politics, these crumbled fragments of the 
Old World hurled into limitless space by the revolu- 
tions of that orb, still maintained their original 
attributes and encroached upon one another and 
fought and worried and ventured and lost with all 
their former selfishness and virulence. 

What more appropriate stage setting could be 
devised to surround the introduction of a hero? 



CHAPTER n 

THE LE MOYNES 

A LTHOUGH the colony was greatly hampered 
/-% by the demands of its King and the exac- 
tions imposed upon its commerce, yet the 
most serious check to its progress came from the 
enmity of its neighbors on the south. The raids of 
the never-resting Iroquois at times brought Montreal 
to the verge of starvation, a condition which the 
shrewd traders of New England and Hudson Bay 
materially aided by securing an almost complete 
diversion of the peltries to England. The fur trade 
of the colony at length reached such a deplorable 
state that the French relied for most of their furs on 
the "upper nations," or the tribes consisting of the 
Ottawas, the Pottawattamies, Sacs, Poxes, and Sioux, 
who lived near the more distant of the Great Lakes 
or even beyond them. A change was imperative or 
the colony would perish, and happily a change was 
at hand through the activity and valor of a native 
son who played a strenuous part in history during 
that forty years which marked the transition of the 
feeble little settlement on the St. Lawrence to the 
majesty of a colony almost as large as Europe. This 



28 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

man, who by his adventurous life brought new 
possessions to Canada and France and by his brilliant 
career has given an increased glory to French arms, 
was the very illustrious Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur 
d' Iberville, Chevalier of the Orders of the King and 
Commander of the King's Ships. No lingering line- 
age with impoverished blood nor ancestry renowned 
in war gave rise to this Canadian chieftain, but 
rather the sturdy stock of an innkeeper at Dieppe, 
France, who sent two young scions to seek their 
fortunes in the New World. 

Charles Le Moyne and his brother Jacques left 
Dieppe in 1640 to join their uncle in Canada. 
Charles, then fourteen years of age, first went with 
the Jesuit Fathers to the Huron Mission, and there 
he learned the country, customs, and all the Indian 
dialects so perfectly that he was in great demand as 
interpreter and guide. He adopted the Indian dress 
as most convenient for the trail and the chase and 
became an adept with paddle, snowshoe, and axe. 
Courageous, energetic, and cool-headed, he shrank 
from no enterprise and soon became a leader upon 
whom all in the colony relied. As his reputation 
spread, he was called first to Three Rivers and later 
(1646) to Montreal, where he finally settled and 
began his lifelong warfare with the Iroquois who 
beset the frontier village on every side. In 1665, 
while hunting, he was taken prisoner by a band of 
these Indians and dragged off for torture and death 



THE LE MOYNES 20 

at the stake. His family mourned him as dead 
when, at the end of three months, he suddenly re- 
turned. He had gained over his enemies by telling 
them of the many Iroquois prisoners he had be- 
friended, besides threatening them with the vengeance 
of his friends. When he returned he was accompanied 
by a delegation of the Iroquois, who congratulated 
the French and felicitated themselves on the fact 
that he returned with no part of his body burnt nor 
even one of his nails pulled out. Wonderful stories 
are told of his battles and hairbreadth escapes in the 
many Indian combats in which he participated. His 
name appears constantly during this period in the 
records of the colony, either as interpreter or am- 
bassador or as counsellor to the Governor on Indian 
affairs, or as leader of expeditions against the sav- 
ages. So efficient and active was he that, in 1668, 
" in consideration of the great services which Sieur 
Le Moyne has rendered to this colony," the King 
granted to him and his heirs in entail the title of 
nobility as Sieur de Longueuil, with a baronial seat 
on a little eminence among the ancient pines through 
whose gaunt arms he could look across the noble 
St. Lawrence, shimmering in the sun, upon the grow- 
ing strength and beauty of Montreal, in whose behalf 
his life was spent. 

Charles Le Moyne had lived eight years in Mon- 
treal when in 1654 he married Catherine Thierry 
Primot, the belle of the settlement, who was con- 



30 SIEUR DTBERVILLE 

spicuous for her piety, modesty, and precocious 
wisdom. In course of time Le Moyne qualified to 
receive the pension of four hundred livres which 
the Government gave as an encouragement to the 
father of twelve or more children. Each of the 
eleven sons in addition to the family name received 
a surname at birth as a mark of distinction. Usually 
the child was given the name of one of the villages 
or landmarks in the neighborhood of Dieppe, as a 
memento of the country of his father's birth. Thus 
the eldest was called Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil 
(b. 1656) ; the second, Jacques de St. Helene (b. 
1659), from one of the islands opposite Montreal ; 
the third, Pierre d'Iberville (b. July 20, 1661) ; the 
fourth, Paul de Maricourt (b. 1663) ; the fifth, Fran- 
9ois de Bienville (b. 1666) ; the sixth, Joseph de 
Serigny (b. 1668) ; the seventh, Fran9ois Marie de 
Sauvole (b. 1670) ; the eighth, Anomyme (b. 1672) ; 
the ninth, Catherine Jeanne * (b. 1673) ; the tenth, 
Louis de Chateauguay (b. 1676) ; the eleventh, Marie 
Anne t (b. 1678) ; the twelfth, Jean Baptiste de 
Bienville (b. 1680); the thirteenth, Gabriel d'Assigny 
(b. 1681) ; the fourteenth, Antoine de Chateauguay 
(b. 1683). All lived to reach eminence or met a death 
of glory in the service of their country. St. Helene, 
Bienville I, and Chateauguay I met early deaths 

* Jeanne married Jacques le Ber and became the mother of the 
celebrated ascetic Jeanne le Ber. 

•(• Marie Anne married Pierre Mareau, Sieur de Chassaigne, Gov- 
ernor of Montreal and later of Three Rivers. 



THE LE MOYNES 31 

while fighting for the colony and the Crown. Mari- 
court, after many important and hazardous services 
to the Government, died from exposure in one of the 
Iroquois campaigns. Serigny attained high rank in 
the French navy and died Governor of Rochefort. 
Antoine de Chateauguay II was long associated with 
Bienville in Louisiana and later became Governor of 
Cayenne. Bienville II was Governor and the bright 
particular star of Louisiana for thirty-five years. 
Charles Le Moyne, Baron de Longueuil, the eldest 
son, became the Governor of Canada, as did his son 
after him. Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, was 
the third and most interesting member of this re- 
markable family. From boyhood he was distin- 
guished for his energetic and hardy spirit and his 
extraordinary force of character. As the children 
grew up, the family feeling became very strong, but 
all recognized and bowed to the qualities of leader- 
ship which Pierre possessed, for he early showed 
his restless and monarchical disposition. He was 
a proud, high-spirited, impulsive, and generous lad, 
intensely loyal and patriotic, and excelled in sports 
and games of all kinds. He was resolute and 
ready to espouse a cause, and having accepted an 
issue, he, far more than his brothers, was willing, 
nay, eager, to pursue it to the bitter end. In his 
fortitude, endurance, courage, and quick intelligence 
lay the claims to leadership which all accepted. 
Thus in warm emulation but definitely under his 



32 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

guidance, they hunted in pairs, and one or more of 
the brothers in an associated or subordinate capacity 
are usually found in every expedition made by Iber- 
ville. " Le Moyne " soon became a word to conjure 
with, and the brotherhood has been named the 
" Canadian Maccabees." 

Instead of toys and the puerile pastimes of the 
nursery the young lads had the steep rocks, the 
straight pines, the gnarled cedars, and the wild game 
of the mountains as playthings. As they grew older, 
they took up the sports most common and necessary 
to all frontier settlements, and spent their time 
largely in fishing, canoeing, hunting, and snowshoe- 
ing, which gave them splendid physical development, 
together with resolution, self-reliance, and great 
initiative. At the same time their life on the edge 
of the wilderness stamped them indelibly with a 
hatred of the rival English and Dutch colonies and 
an ineffaceable bitterness toward the Iroquois. Born 
into and environed by the Canadian Noblesse who 
held war to be the only vocation of a gentleman, they 
saw their neighbors and their doughty father go and 
come from Indian forays, they heard their tales of 
adventure and personal prowess, while the skill and 
distinction of their father fired their spirits with 
pride and emulation. His capture by the Iroquois 
and narrow escape from the stake seemed only a 
part of the day's work, though, to be sure, had his 
offer been accepted to go on the Dollard expedition 



THE LE MOYNES 33 

which took place the year previous to the birth of 
Iberville, his inevitable loss would have been a deep 
and lasting misfortune to New France. Various in- 
cidents in that spectacular period combined to influ- 
ence the unfolding character of young Iberville. 

New France itself was passing through a stirring 
period of change and stress. Terminating its career 
as a missionary field, the King about the time of 
Iberville's birth had taken over the country and 
erected it into a colony, a change that could not 
occur without disturbance. In addition there were 
the quarrels between the Government and the Clergy, 
between the different branches of the Government 
service, between the different clerical orders, and be- 
tween all these and the English and Iroquois. Then 
too there was the fur trade, always a prolific source 
of trouble. In consequence the atmosphere of Iber- 
ville's boyhood was electrically charged with per- 
sonal feeling and antagonism. All these conditions 
produced definite effects upon Iberville, but the one 
event that made the earliest and most permanent 
impression on his growing mind was the arrival of 
the Carignan Regiment, with which he felt an in- 
stinctive congeniality. Six hundred strong they 
were, these veterans of European wars, when, with 
the gallant De Tracy, they landed in 1666 on the 
way to punish the ever-aggressive Iroquois. Drawn 
from the French nobility, from the very elite of those 
knightly families who had consecrated their children 



34 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

to a military life, they made a brave appearance as, 
with drums beating and colors flying, they marched 
with steady stride through the streets of the little 
frontier village of Montreal. The richly dressed 
officers especially fascinated the little lad, who 
watched the parade with beating heart, swelling 
breast, and intense eyes. Then and there his Nor- 
man ancestry blazed up with an inspiration to serve 
the King. He soon realized that discipline and 
scholarship were the first steps to distinction, and as 
soon as possible Iberville and other young Le Moynes 
entered Abbe Queylus' Sulpician Seminary, eager to 
squeeze dry the educational sponge. This school 
was modelled after those in France, and the boys 
received a very good foundation in such essentials as 
Latin, logic, rhetoric, and literature, and in religious 
instruction — which was regarded as far more impor- 
tant. Iberville's instinctive antag;onism to the Enor- 
lish was also intensified at school, not on the ground 
that they were rivals in the New World — which he 
could see even so young, nor yet on the ground 
that they incited the Iroquois against Canada — as 
he fully believed, but rather because they were 
heretics, a charge that meant much in those days of 
rigorous orthodoxy. So the brothers spent their early 
years until, at the age of twelve, young Iberville was 
ready to go to his first communion. It was an inter- 
esting group of boys who gathered before the little 
chapel on that pleasant Sunday morning in June, 



THE LE MOYNES 35 

1673. There were his older brothers, Charles and 
St. Helene, and his younger brother Maricourt, and 
with them Gabriel Montigny, Manthet, and Jean 
Barrett, all to become known later as writers, sol- 
diers, explorers, sailors, and coureurs de hois. They 
were clad in coats of that peculiar blue which dis- 
tinguished the residents of Montreal, just as white 
was peculiar to Three Rivers and red to Quebec. 
Blue leggings with knitted garters ended in deer 
hide moccasins tied in Iroquois fashion, with the 
insteps embroidered with stained porcupine quills. 
Beaver skin caps covered their heads, and broad 
belts of vivid colors embroidered with beads drew 
in the coats at the waist. 

Just now they were eagerly discussing the ap- 
proaching visit of Frontenac,* on his way to meet 
the Indian tribes at Cataraqui,t for council and 
treaty. This was an important juncture in the his- 
tory of the colony, for with the arrival of Governor 

* Louis de Baude, Count de Frontenac (b. 1620), had from his 
fifteenth year seen service in the French armies and was also an accom- 
plished courtier. He was made Lieutenant-Geueral of New France 
in 1672. Wliile the most able of the governors, his imperious dispo- 
sition and autocratic temper involved him in many disputes. The 
opposition became so great that he was recalled in 1682. Seven 
years later, the peril of the colony was such that Frontenac was sum- 
moned again to defend it. This he did vigorously. His expedition 
of 1696 crushed the Iroquois and thereby saved Canada to the French. 

•j- Courcelle had recommended the site of Cataraqui (Fort Fronte- 
nac) on his expedition of 1671, while Frontenac, acting upon the sug- 
gestion, advanced up the St. Lawrence in 1673 and built the stockade 
on the site of the present city of Kingston, Ontario. Two years later, 
La Salle, strongly endorsed by Frontenac, obtained from the King a 
grant of the fort and district as a seigniory. 



36 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

Frontenac began the exploration of the St. Lawrence 
Valley and the interior and the leaguing of the 
Indians to France. It was expected that Frontenac 
would stop a week or more in Montreal, and un- 
doubtedly some of the settlers would be invited to 
accompany him. Already they had seen and talked 
with his lieutenant, La Salle, then a young man 
about thirty years of age, and in spite of his grim 
reserve they had heard of his adventures during his 
recent trip to the interior, while his story of the dis- 
covery of the Ohio had thrilled and inspired them 
all. He was now arranging for Frontenac's official 
reception in the village and securing supplies and 
men for his expedition. This was an excursion 
which each of the boys inwardly longed to take, but 
none more than Iberville, burning with ambition and 
love of adventure from his infancy. In the muster 
of Canadians on the arrival of Frontenac (June 20, 
1673) Le Moyne, the specialist in Indian manage- 
ment, was among the first to be invited, not only 
because of his ability as interpreter but because of 
his prominence among the Noblesse. With him too 
went the more enterprising of the youth, St. Helene, 
Iberville, Manthet, and Montigny. It was a highly 
educational adventure to the young men, and doubt- 
less the greedy eyes and ears of Iberville took in 
much of supreme importance to his later career. He 
saw Frontenac make his imposing arrival at Cata- 
raqui, he witnessed the effect on the Indian depu- 



THE LE MOYNES 37 

ties of his martial display and of the dramatic speech 
which his father interpreted, and he learned those 
lessons in Indian management in which he subse- 
quently became so expert. He watched the building 
of the fort and saw the submission of the haughty 
Iroquois, a submission which lasted only until they 
had swept their Indian neighbors out of their way 
and were ready to move against the French to secure 
for themselves and their English and Dutch friends a 
monopoly of the fur trade. 

The new establishment was named Fort Frontenac 
and was destined in a couple of years to be the base 
whence the redoubtable Governor and his energetic 
lieutenant La Salle launched upon the Mississippi 
Valley their extensive designs of exploration and 
trade. Having brilliantly concluded this affair, 
Frontenac and the entire expedition returned. The 
Le Moyne boys had been deeply impressed by the 
character and presence of Frontenac, and ever after 
maintained with but few interruptions a relationship 
which was highly advantageous to both sides. The 
effect of this journey was seen almost immediately in 
an event which was the turning point in their lives. 
They had not only secured a large insight into gov- 
ernment methods, but in addition their far-sighted 
father seized his period of close association with the 
new Governor to push an idea he had long consid- 
ered, of putting some of his boys in the Royal Navy. 
The suit was successful, and upon their return to 



38 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

Montreal it was decided that St. Helene, Iberville, 
and Maricourt should be recommended by Frontenac 
for appointment as midshipmen. Their success was 
the more probable since Colbert at this time was 
attempting to put the navy on a grand footing. 
Vessels were building; recruiting and training sta- 
tions were developing in the fortified ports of Brest, 
Rochefort, Toulon, and Dieppe, and government in- 
fluence was exerted to make naval science attrac- 
tive to the young men of noble families. 

Iberville, enthusiastic and restless, had already 
made many long trips on the St. Lawrence River and 
Gulf in a boat belonging to his father, and knew the 
water more thoroughly than many old navigators. 
In anticipation of his career he now made longer 
excursions and studied the sea more attentively. 
After some delay the appointments were made as 
desired, and the boys left the following year to learn 
their duties as naval officers. They were drilled for 
four or five years in all the naval science of the age, 
and excelled especially in mathematics, hydrography, 
artillery, and seamanship, which they found very 
congenial. Their education was then continued on 
the King's ships under such men as d'Estrees, Tour- 
ville, and Jean Bart, and since this was the period of 
the great sea battles with the English and Dutch 
they had full experience in actual warfare. During 
his apprenticeship also his duty brought Iberville 
many times to Quebec when his frigate acted as con- 



THE LE MOYNES 39 

voy for merchantmen, and it is certain that upon 
arrival he ran down to Montreal, so that his long 
absence in no way impaired the unison of family 
feeling and effort. 

By 1683 he had completed his course and returned 
to Canada, whence he was sent to France by La 
Barre * with despatches for the King and bearing 
also the Governor's recommendation for his appoint- 
ment as Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Failing to 
receive his commission, he returned the following 
Spring to Montreal. He was now twenty-three years 
of age, and an object of pride and joy to his father, 
who at this time was still active and energetic and 
advancing in honor and consideration in the colony. 
On two occasions they made long journeys together 
into the wilderness, and Iberville perfected his knowl- 
edge of woodcraft and Indian character. There is no 
record to show that it was he who accompanied his 
father t on that difficult but highly successful embassy 
to the Iroquois in 1684, when Le Moyne brought back, 
in spite of the English opposition, the fourteen chiefs 
for council with Governor La Barre, but the event 
was doubtless impressed on his mind as a direct 

* Le Febre de la Barre was appointed Governor of New France in 
1682 to supersede Frontenac. In early life he had been a lawyer and 
government official in France. At the time of his appointment he 
was an officer of experience, having seen service in the West Indies, 
been Governor of Cayenne (1664-66), and after defeating an English 
fleet, recovered Antigua, Montserrat, and Nevis for the French. 

j- Charlevoix says, " two of his sons who accompanied Sieur Le 
Moyne to Onondaga, reported the expedition to La Barre." 



40 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

result oi finesse and determination. In 1685, shortly 
after this great personal triumph, Charles Le Moyne 
died at the age of sixty years, causing the first 
break in that redoubtable family group which was 
destined to extend with increasing activity until the 
name Le Moyne should traverse the continent from 
the Bay of Hudson to the Gulf of Mexico. Charles 
Le Moyne was dead, but his soul lived on, and the 
power of his single arm was magically multiplied 
in those splendid, daring sons whom he bequeathed 
to the support of Canada, the aggrandizement of 
France, and to the pride and glory of both. 

America was an apple worthily chosen for discord. 
Over this expansive territory of thrice the area and 
wealth of their kingdoms, strove for dominance three 
great kings. Their battalions met on the silent 
shores of three desolate gulfs, thousands of miles 
apart and yet indissolubly related by the union at 
Newfoundland of the three great ocean currents 
which there swept together in majestic implication 
from the remote inland seas which gave them birth. 
On the ample bosoms of those separate seas rode the 
contending navies, and throughout the length and 
breadth of three great river valleys of North Amer- 
ica the bitter partisans of the rival nations battled 
not alone for supremacy but for sole possession — a 
supremacy that was not to remain unchallenged and 
a possession that was not to pass unquestioned until 
the lapse of three long centuries. Menendez secured 



THE LE MOYNES 41 

a doubtful eminence through the conquest of Florida 
and the wanton butchery of his helpless French cap- 
tives; Montcalm and Wolfe earned immortality on 
the lofty Plains of Abraham; but upon Le Moyne 
d'Iberville rests the unique distinction that he 
courted renown and carried to victory the banners of 
France upon each of the widely separate waters 
of Hudson Bay, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the 
Gulf of Mexico. 



CHAPTER III 
EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 

TOWARD the end of 1685 the eagerly expected 
opportunity knocked at the door of the young 
Le Moynes. La Barre in turn had been re- 
called, and the energetic Seignelay * had ordered his 
successor, Denonville,t to take active measures to de- 
cide the long-disputed ownership of that northern 
country occupied at this time by England. The great 
territory which includes Labrador and the region ad- 
jacent to Hudson Bay was highly important, not 
alone on account of its strategic position in the midst 
of numerous tribes, but more particularly as the centre 
of the fur trade. 

In 1610 Henry Hudson in search of the illusive 
northwest passage discovered that great Bay which 
in the following year received his life and name, — at 
once his sepulchre and epitaph, a mighty tribute to 

* Jean Baptists Colbert, Marquis de Seignelay, eldest son of the 
great Colbert, succeeded his father (1683) as Minister of the Marine, 
which ofl&ce he administered until his death in 1690. The colonies 
were controlled by this department of the French administration. 

•f Jacques Rene de Brisay, Marquis de Denonville, had served in the 
French armies for thirty years. He was a zealous officer, but unequal 
to the difficulties he was called upon to meet in Canada. He was re- 
called in 1689. 



EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 43 

his dauntless soul. For sixty years thereafter that 
huge inland sea, eight hundred miles wide by a thou- 
sand miles long, lay locked in the ice and the sombre 
Arctic seclusion, in a silence as deep as when it first 
arose from chaos. On the east lies the corrugated 
Labrador, her distorted mountains seamed and rived 
to pass great rivers to sea or bay; on the south are 
found the illimitable forests and wintry lakes, and 
all has been tossed together in a wavelike form as if 
the ocean had been suddenly petrified while at the 
very summit of titanesque performance. This ex- 
pansive wilderness was the home of wild beasts and 
Indians whose presence in no way diminished the 
terrors of that grim solitude. The sea itself was a 
dreary waste. For a few brief weeks the whale and 
walrus found a welcome retreat in its icy waters, then 
the frost closed in and the white bear roamed in 
lonely state upon its frozen deeps, while solitary birds 
winged their way with harsh discordant cries over 
its bleak, snow-buried desolation. 

Threading the pathless wilderness on the south 
came Radisson, the pioneer, and later at his solicita- 
tion came the " Company of English adventurers " to 
trade upon the Bay. The English, acting under the 
broad charter rights granted by Charles II in 1670, 
had immediately established trading posts which kept 
the current of skins flowing quite steadily toward 
England. The abundant success of the Hudson's 
Bay Company for the next fifteen years tempted the 



44 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

alert and avaricious fur traders of New France to try 
for a foothold on the Bay. In opposition to the 
" Great Company," an association of Quebec mer- 
chants was formed under the name of the " Com- 
pagnie du Nord," and government aid demanded. 
The particular act which inflamed the Canadians at 
this time and stimulated them to call the attention 
of the home Government to Hudson Bay was the 
treachery of Radisson, who though supposedly French 
betrayed his post and an entire shipload of furs to 
the English. 

France and Great Britain were officially at peace, 
so that there was no excuse for aggression beyond 
the fact that England had possession of something 
which France wanted. Louis XIV doubtless felt 
that inasmuch as he was sending annually large sums 
of money to James II, as subsidies, in accordance 
with their secret agreement, James would not seri- 
ously oppose any steps he might take to make his 
claims legal, and as it looked safe he had finally re- 
solved to assume the right and take possession of 
the disputed territory. Basing his claim on what 
was probably a fact, though unimportant, that an 
establishment had been made by the two French- 
men, Radisson and Groseilliers, at the mouth of the 
Hayes River before any English settlement had been 
attempted at that place, the King doubtless felt justi- 
fied, although the English had erected a trading sta- 
tion at Rupert River as early as 1668-69. Whether 



. EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY ' 45 

justified or not, it is improbable that the King would 
idly watch the location of English settlements on the 
Bay, for, besides the very pressing danger to his own 
colony on the St. Lawrence from the English both 
north and south, the fur traders at Quebec and 
Montreal keenly felt the effects of the English compe- 
tition. To attack the English forts on Hudson Bay 
therefore according to Seignelay's instructions, Denon- 
ville assembled at Montreal a troop of one hundred 
men, comprising thirty soldiers and seventy Cana- 
dians together with a number of Indians, all under 
the command of the sagacious De Troyes, an officer 
of the celebrated Carignan Regiment. Volunteering 
with the troop but without official status unless, as 
seems probable, they represented the " Compagnie du 
Nord," went the three Le Moyne boys, St. Helene, 
Iberville, and Maricourt. 

They volunteered as guides, interpreters, and 
scouts, but through experience, hardihood, and abil- 
ity they quickly assumed the leadership. 

Iberville was now starting on that career of adven- 
ture, warfare, and exploration which was not to end 
until his restless, intrepid spirit had left his body. 
At this time he was in the full bloom of his young 
manhood. His frame was large, his waist trim, his 
bearing erect and soldierly. His active life as bush- 
ranger and seaman had given him a superb physique, 
with muscles of steel and the springy catlike tread 
of an athlete. His fine shoulders were surmounted 



46 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

by a well-shaped head, which had as its most con- 
spicuous ornament a profusion of curling yellow hair, 
which he habitually wore long after the manner of 
the times. His features were refined though large. 
A brow, broad and open, rested above his blue pene- 
trating eyes, which under excitement sparkled like 
gems. An aquiline nose and finely chiselled mouth 
agreeably softened the firmness of his square-set jaw. 
His skin was clear, his manner easy and conciliatory, 
and his whole person glowed with resolution and self- 
confidence. " As military as his sword," said a direc- 
tor of the Hudson's Bay Company who had good 
reasons for his respect ; " Born canoeist and hardened 
to the water like a fish," said Frontenac ; " A young 
man who knows what he knows," said Denonville. 
His character was fully as pleasing as his physique, 
and from his youth up he showed that obliging and 
generous disposition which made him the ideal leader 
and beloved comrade of his men. From now on the 
scanty annals of that period are lifted above the com- 
monplace by the successive appearances of the Le 
Moynes as each in turn steps forward to consecrate 
his life, trained and developed in local Indian forays, 
to the service of France. 

Iberville and his brothers felt that the success of 
this present undertaking would depend largely on the 
secrecy and swiftness of the blow, and this required 
that the line of march should be as unknown to the 
enemy as the raid was unexpected. 



EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 47 

There are three canoe routes from the St. Lawrence 
to Hudson Bay, one of which must be followed for 
ease of travel, although the expedition was to start 
on snowshoes. The first, leaving the St. Lawrence 
at Tadousac, ascends the Saguenay River to Lake 
St. John and thence to Lake Mistassini, from which 
the course follows a branch of Rupert River to the 
Bay. The second starts from Three Rivers and as- 
cends the St. Maurice, there to take any one of nu- 
merous rivers which also lead to the Bay. The better 
to avoid giving warning to the English and to evade 
the ever watchful eyes of the wandering Iroquois, the 
Le Moynes chose the third route, which ascends the 
Ottawa River west of Montreal. 

The departure was fixed for March 20, 1686. 
Spring had scarcely begun, but it was considered 
important to arrive before the annual supply ships 
could reach the forts from England with reinforce- 
ments and remove the peltries. The troop was well 
equipped with provisions, clothing, and munitions 
for several months. Every manual necessity was 
provided for in making up the company, wherein 
might be found carpenters, sailors, miners, and can- 
noneers, together with loyal Indians from the Mon- 
tague and La Chine Missions, all excellent fighters 
and wood-rangers, especially chosen for their activity 
and endurance. 

Having heard mass, they stepped bravely through 
the eager throng of relatives and friends who clus- 



48 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

tered at the shore to look long and anxiously after 
them as they ascended the frozen channel of the river. 
They moved rapidly up the snow-padded silences of 
the Ottawa, past Rideau and Chaudiere Falls, where 
stands the present city of Ottawa ; past their last out- 
post at Little Nation, where salutes were exchanged ; 
past Cat Lake and Mille Lacs, to the Mattawa River ; 
up the Mattawa to the cliff-margined waters of Lake 
Temiscaming, where they received a warm welcome 
from friendly tribes. They were travelling as lightly 
as possible, without canoes or tents, carrying blankets 
and provisions on their backs or dragging them on 
toboggans and sleeping at night in the snow ; never- 
theless all went smoothly until they crossed over into 
a branch of the Abittibi River and thence to Abittibi 
Lake, where their difficulties began. At this point it 
was necessary to remain until canoes could be built, 
for now they expected to be free from the ice and 
snow and to course down the Abittibi and Moose 
Rivers on the crest of the spring floods. Here they 
built a small fort and leaving three Canadians in 
charge, as soon as the canoes were finished, they 
crossed the lake and started, — "a troop of daredevil 
bushrangers sweeping down the forested waterways 
of the North." Often the river was frozen for long 
distances or else they fought the floating ice cakes 
in the swift current. At one time barefooted, they 
tracked the laden canoes for twelve miles amidst the 
downrushing icy water which swept swirling and 




Canadian on Snowsiioes i'kei'aked for a Winter 
Campaign 

(From La Potherie) 



EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 49 

roaring to the sea. They cut the ice with their 
hatchets or portaged over the giant dams of massed 
cakes. Iberville and four of his men were caught . 

by the current in the fierce rapids and swept against 
a rock, where the canoe upset and two were lost. 
Only by his great strength and cool-headedness did 
Iberville succeed in saving himseH and two of his 
companions. 

Since the obstacles increased as they advanced 
north, the troop moved more and more slowly, until 
Iberville feared they would not reach the Bay in 
time. The aspect of the country was austere and 
harsh. The Jesuit Silvy,* chaplain and historian of 
the expedition, says : " We have passed through forests 
capable of frightening the most assured traveller, be 
it by their great extent or be it by the roughness of 
the rude and dangerous paths. Upon land one can 
only travel on the precipices, while on the water one 
can only cross abysses where in a frail bark canoe one 
fights for life amid whirlpools capable of swallowing 
great ships." 

Still advancing, there seemed to be no limit to the 
vast forests ; as far as the eye could see it met noth- 
ing but valleys and mountains covered by that ex- 

« Antoine Silvy, born Oct. 16, 1638, had come to Canada in 1673. 
At the Ottawa Missions he had spent four years, but this was his second 
trip to the Bay, the first being undertaken in 1679 with Jolliet. They 
then made the trip by way of Tadousac and Rupert River (Gagnon's 
Jolliet). After this expedition with Iberville he remained at the 
Bay until 1693. 

4 



50 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

traordinary and abundant growth. As day succeeded 
day with no change in the scenery, no break in the 
succession of venerable trees, the voyageurs would ex- 
claim, " All Canada is only a vast forest." The den- 
sity of the interlacing branches was so great that the 
march was made for leagues under the continuous 
dome of pine, fir, and hemlock through which the sky 
could be seen only at long intervals. At times they 
met banks covered with vegetation, the branches 
bending to the water, the rocks covered with roots 
exposed and inextricably entangled. Again they 
climbed a mountain whose southern exposure was 
bare of snow and showing signs of spring vegetation, 
while upon the opposite side they passed under trees 
still covered with a blanket of white and with branches 
that scintillated with reflections from snow crystals 
and icicles. The chutes at the extremity of a lake 
or in the course of the river shimmered and sparkled 
in the sunlight with the splendor of silver, and the 
water descended over granite stairways resplendent 
with ice. Either lake or river might at times be in- 
terrupted by a gigantic barrier of rocks apparently 
impassable, but after many devious turns and many 
a cul de sac, an opening would appear and another 
body of unimpeded water lay before them. 

Besides the ordinary difficulties of such a journey, 
they were further delayed by the sudden appearance 
of dense fogs so impenetrable that progress was im- 
possible; or a sudden rise in temperature produced 



EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 51 

a thaw so complete that the portages became bottom- 
less quagmires over which it was impossible to trans- 
port the baggage and canoes. 

Night, too, had its charms and dangers. The moon 
shone with but a feeble glow surrounded by rings and 
strange accessory lights, while the farther north they 
marched the stronger and more frequent became the 
appearance of the elusive aurora, its tremulous rays 
flashing and disappearing with mocking evanescence. 
At other times an abundant rain in the night would 
turn to sleet, which converted the trees and twigs 
into crystal columns and sprays of jewels. The 
underbrush was decorated with diamonds and the 
rocks encircled with glittering garlands. Every cliff 
and crag and jagged peak had its crown of snow and 
every glen and gorge its drifted shroud. All was 
very wonderful and fairylike, but this wizardry of the 
forest had also its dangers. Under the excessive 
weight the boughs would break with thundering noise, 
and the travellers stepped with wary feet lest a sudden 
jar might dislodge the huge masses that hung trem- 
bling and menacing, beautiful but deadly, just over 
their heads. When the work of the sleet was ended, 
the trails were obstructed by uprooted trees and 
branches broken into so many fragments that passage 
was wellnigh impossible. 

Father Silvy says that the Le Moyne boys became 
invaluable to the expedition under these difficulties, 
and on account of their unusual woodmanship and 



52 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

expertness as canoeists, they guided the men through 
the forests and upon the waters, they chose the por- 
tages and the camp sites, and kept up the spirits of 
the band by their constant enthusiasm. Such a trip 
indeed was a source of continual dehght to the hardy 
Iberville, who surpassed his brothers in size as well 
as in mental force. No hardship or danger depressed 
his spirits or affected his courage ; a call to eat or the 
menace of death was received in the same spirit of 
invariable good nature. Within himself was such a 
love for adventure, such resolution and self-reliance, 
that nothing daunted him. Norman as he was, he 
seemed to revert to that ancestry which had produced 
the champions of Sicily, the heroes of the Crusades, 
and the conquerors of England. He revelled in the 
hardships of a winter campaign ; the greater the ob- 
stacle, the more serious the danger, so much the more 
buoyantly did his spirit rise to meet and conquer. 

Finally the channel of the river broadened and 
the canoes swept rapidly forward. The portages be- 
came less frequent, less rocky, but more unpleasant. 
Their way led them through vast " muskegs " and 
juniper swamps, all crusted with snow which yielded 
under them, so that they marched in snow and icy 
water mingled with long and tangled grass growing 
from soft mud. Then from a slight elevation they 
beheld an immensity of water reflecting the dull 
tones of a steel-gray sky, and extending infinitely 
onward to where the water merged with the sky 



EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 53 

line in the chill misty distance. It was Hudson 
Bay — it was also June 18, 1686. In three months 
the hardy voyageurs had covered six hundred miles 
of new trail, through a most rugged part of Canada, 
by snowshoe and canoe in midwinter, with no incen- 
tive but the love of adventure for its own sake and 
hatred of the English who disturbed their commercial 
future, and no prospect of pay except such as they 
might secure from the loot of the forts on the Bay. 

Here the English had erected five posts for the 
convenience of their Indian trade. Moose Factory 
at the mouth of the Moose River at the southern 
end was known as Fort Monsipi (or Monsoni) by 
the Indians, and Fort St. Louis by the French. 
East of Moose Factory about forty leagues sat Fort 
Rupert at the mouth of the river of that name, and 
about the same distance west was Fort Kitchichou- 
ane, later known as Fort Albany, and called Fort 
St. Anne by the French. Higher on the western 
side of the Bay was the unimportant post of New 
Savanne, or Severn, called by the French Fort St. 
Th^rese, and finally thirty leagues north of the 
latter lay Fort Nelson, later called Fort York, the 
strongest and best of them all, well located near 
the mouth of Nelson River. This post was known 
to the French as Fort Bourbon. It was close by 
this that Radisson and Groseilliers had established 
their early station upon which the only French 
claim could be based, 



54 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

These five little specks on the margin of that 
dreary expanse of sea represented the first feeble 
attempts of the English to reach out a hand — com- 
mercial and self-interested, to be sure, but neverthe- 
less a human hand — to the savage inhabitants of the 
Northern wilderness. The greed of gold lured the 
Spaniards to Peru and Mexico, where it is said they 
destroyed a civilization more developed than their 
own. The lure of the fur trade was the means, and 
a gradual improvement in conditions the inevitable 
result, of those blind groping fags of Fate on Hudson 
Bay. They were equally covetous, but in the case 
of the English avarice was tempered with justice 
and disciplined by the many revolutions necessary 
to obtain it, while the Spanish were highwaymen 
pure and simple. Wliere the fur trade invited the 
English, a rude, deformed, but definite civilization 
made its compulsory appearance and permanently 
improved the barbarian tribes, and in this respect 
the attacks of the French in no iota disturbed the 
action of those mighty balances in which the des- 
tinies of nations are weighed. 

In silent ambuscade the restless French lay hidden 
that long June afternoon, awaiting the fall of night 
and licking their chops, like the gaunt old timber 
wolves that they were, as they watched with greedy 
eyes the thin column of smoke rising from Moose 
Factory (Fort Monsipi), the only apparent sign of 
life. White, lonely, and isolated, the post harmo- 



EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 55 

nized well with the lonely forest and still more deso- 
late Bay. The garrison sheltered from the rigors 
of the climate had no warning of attack, and they 
waited only the spring ships as the first intrusion 
upon their icy retreat. No guards were placed, 
no watchmen in the towers, neither patrols nor 
sentinels. 

The fort was situated on a slight elevation a few 
yards from the water, and consisted of a square of 
palisades measuring one hundred feet on each face 
and eighteen feet high, with bastions at each corner. 
These in turn were covered with strong planks and 
furnished within with platforms for the riflemen 
and cannon. Within the palisaded enclosure was a 
redoubt about thirty feet high, built in terraces of 
logs, and upon its top was a parapet with embra- 
sures for the big guns. This redoubt was the resi- 
dence of the garrison and the real citadel of the 
fort. 

With the approach of night Iberville and St. 
Helene stealthily inspected the post. No hoot of 
owl from distant thicket, no cry of loon from the 
lonely shore, disturbed the deep silence. No sign 
of human life appeared ; the stockade was as quiet 
as the grave. The tompions were in the great guns, 
the cannon were not loaded. The scouts faded back 
into the shadows of the forest. The plan of attack 
was then arranged. Leaving under guard all the 
canoes but two, these, laden with planks, mattocks, 



56 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

and a battering ram, dropped silently down the 
river to meet De Troyes, who, over a road sheltered 
by rocks and trees, marched with moccasined feet 
to the gate. Iberville and St. Helene with twenty 
men, and Sergeant Catalogne with twenty more, 
were each to cut through the palisades at feasible 
points, while De Troyes and Maricourt assailed the 
gate with the battering ram. Using the planks as 
platforms, Iberville scaled the palisades with his men 
and was the first to arrive in the enclosure. Has- 
tening to the great gate, he threw the bar and let 
in De Troyes, then all returned to the redoubt to 
meet Sergeant Catalogne, whose party was now firing 
through the windows. At the first shot the Canadi- 
ans with high shrill voices gave the dreaded war-cry 
of the Iroquois, " Sassa Koues, Sassa Koues." It was 
a complete surprise. The English, awakened by the 
tumult and thinking the Iroquois were upon them, 
hastened to the defence in their shirts and with such 
weapons as they could pick up. 

The battering ram was brought up and delivered 
great blows on the gate of the redoubt, which at 
length partially opened, and Iberville, impulsive and 
daring, eagerly hurled himself inside. The English 
got the gate closed again, while the fearless French- 
man, trapped and cornered, fought coolly with his 
sword.* Again the gate burst in and with it more 

* This incident, given on the authority of La Potherie, is called 
apocryphal by Parkman, but it accords so ■well with what we know of 
Iberville that it seems best to include it. 



EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 57 

French. The situation now began to dawn upon the 
English, and, recognizing the futility of resistance, the 
garrison surrendered. In the fort were fifteen men, 
twelve cannon, three thousand pounds of powder, 
and one thousand pounds of lead. The French 
promptly began to utilize their prize by melting 
the lead into bullets. 

"The assailants were much vexed," says Father 
Silvy, " to learn from the prisoners that the Com- 
mander, Governor Bridgar, had left on the preced- 
ing evening with fifteen men on a vessel for Fort 
Rupert." As this vessel was absolutely necessary 
to transport the cannon that were needed in the 
attack on Fort Kitchichouane, it was decided to pur- 
sue and capture the vessel and Fort Rupert at the 
same time. Iberville took the longboat and two 
pieces of cannon from the fort, and the rest followed 
by canoe. Cutting across a tongue of land, they 
opened up a trail used even to this day, and covered 
the forty leagues in five days. 

When they arrived near Fort Rupert, St. Helene 
was detailed to take observations. He reported a 
fort similar in all respects to Fort Monsipi except 
that the redoubt was in one corner of the enclosure 
and had, alas ! a ladder outside for use in case of 
fire. All was arranged accordingly. De Troyes 
detailed Iberville and Maricourt in two canoes with 
twelve men to take the ship, while he himself 
assaulted the fort. 



58 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

Night came on, and the canoes stole down on the 
vessel. Iberville silently climbed the side, and be- 
fore the sentinel awakened to his danger he was 
killed. The crew, aroused by stamping on the deck, 
became an easy prey as one by one they climbed the 
hatchway, until the alarm was taken and the survi- 
vors fell back. Then the French descended and broke 
open the cabin with axes. Quarter was asked and 
given, and the French took command. A small 
sloop anchored near by was also seized. Fearing he 
might miss some portion of the adventure, Iberville 
now left a guard on the ship and hurried shoreward 
to assist in taking the fort. Meanwhile De Troyes 
had forced the outer gate with a tree as a battering 
ram, a man climbed the ladder on the side of the 
redoubt, and dropped hand grenades through holes 
cut in the roof and down the chimney. The con- 
sternation was general, and the French entered the 
palisaded enclosure sword in hand. The last hope 
of holding out disappeared, and after a further 
slight resistance the English surrendered. 

During the attack a woman in confusion and 
excitement ran into the room in which a grenade 
had just been dropped, and in spite of warning was 
seriously injured by the explosion before she could 
escape. Iberville and Father Silvy put her to bed, 
called the surgeon, and locked the door to keep out 
intruders. Ever ruthless in the execution of his 
orders, Iberville had not yet reached the point, as 



EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 69 

he did four years later at Schenectady, where he 
could stand passively by and see women and chil- 
dren tortured and killed. 

They remained four days at this post, loading 
the ship with supplies and furs and mounting on 
it the cannon for the attack on Albany. Leaving 
the longboat for Iberville, who was to stay and 
partially dismantle the fort, the redoubt only being 
saved, De Troyes took the captured stores and pris- 
oners back to Moose Factory on the ship. As soon 
as Iberville rejoined the expedition, De Troyes was 
ready to advance on Albany (Fort Kitchichouane). 
The prisoners were left on the eastern side of 
Moose River under guard. As many of the French 
as possible were crowded on the ship, the rest were 
provided with canoes, and the expedition started. 
As usual, Iberville and St. Helene with the Indians 
led in the canoes, and De Troyes with the French 
followed in the ship, upon which the cannon were 
loaded. The sun was just going down as they 
started, and although the way was unknown and 
even the location of the fort uncertain, they thought 
to save time, as well as to deceive the English into 
the belief that their friends were coming, by steering 
diagonally across the Bay instead of taking the safer 
route near the shore. They were well started when 
one of those wild north gales swept down from the 
Upper Bay and made battering rams of the floating 
ice cakes. With the gale came a thick mist, and the 



60 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

birch canoes were untenable. Dangerous enough in 
heavy seas, in heavy seas pkis floating ice it was 
destruction. Some made for the mainland, but the 
Le Moynes kept on until a boiling sea of floes 
thrust in between the canoes and compelled them 
to camp on the shifting ice. While the voyageurs 
held the canoes high above their heads for safety, 
they also clung hand to hand, so that when one 
dropped through the moving ice the rest could pull 
him out.* As soon as daylight brightened some- 
what the thick mist, Iberville hastened on. Keep- 
ing his guns firing to guide the other canoes, he 
pushed across the traverse, portaging where there 
was ice or where the ebbing tide left sand banks, 
and paddling wherever it was possible. Reaching 
a point near the western shore, he sought in vain 
for sign of fort or river mouth, since no one could 
say whether the land in view was north or south of 
the fort. This caused considerable delay, but while 
discussing the situation the sound of guns was heard, 
and turning toward the sound Iberville at last joined 
De Troyes at the mouth of the Kitchichouane River 
before Fort Albany. The journey had taken five 
days, and the garrison had been put upon its guard 
by Indian runners. 

St. Helene was again detailed to reconnoitre, and 
reported a fort similar to the others but a little 
larger and better armed. Conscious that his ap- 
* Laut, "The Conquest of the Great Northwest." 



EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 61 

proach was known, De Tro} es tried negotiation. It 
had been known at Montreal that a French spy 
named Pere had been captured and for a while im- 
prisoned at Fort Albany, and De Troyes now de- 
manded that he be given up else he would attack 
the fort. Governor Sargeant replied that the French- 
man long since had been sent to France, and de- 
clared that De Troyes had no right to attack the 
fort since the nations were at peace. However, De 
Troyes did not intend to be deprived of his prey 
because his excuse failed him. He landed his 
men and planted his battery of ten cannon on 
the opposite side of the river masked among the 
bushes, then, with a true French instinct for the 
dramatic, he waited quietly until night, when with 
his glass he could see the Governor retiring to his 
chamber with his family. Choosing this glad, aus- 
picious moment, he opened fire and sent a roaring 
volley from all the guns straight at the Governor's 
chamber. The firing was continued for an hour 
and a half, in which time the besiegers had delivered 
over one hundred and fifty shots. Meanwhile the 
cannon fire had stirred up the utmost confusion in 
the fort. The garrison, already mutinous, flew hither 
and thither in great disorder. Some took refuge in 
the cellar, and others insisted that Governor Sargeant 
should surrender. In the midst of the tumult an 
under officer announced that the powder had given 
out. This was the last straw. The Governor, be- 



62 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

trayed within and besieged without, gent over a flag 
of truce, and upon invitation De Troyes returned 
with it to the fort. After the healths of the two 
Kings had been politely drunk, the fort was given up.* 

This was the principal depot on the Bay, and large 
quantities of provisions, trading stores, and another 
ship fell into the hands of the French together with 
fifty thousand peltries. This victory made the 
French masters of the southern part of the Bay. 
Leaving Iberville to patrol the coast, De Troyes 
returned overland in August to Montreal.! By 
virtue of his commission from Denonville, Iberville 
remained as Commander of all the forts on the 
Bay. He first disposed of his prisoners by sending 
them to France in one of the captured ships. 
During the late Summer of 1686 he captured a 
large English sloop. The Young, which was on its 
way to Fort Rupert. 

The ardent leader inspired every man in his little 
troop with his own ceaseless vigilance and enthusi- 
astic courage, as the following incident shows. In 
September Iberville was at Moose Factory when he 
learned that an English vessel, the Churchill, was 
caught in the ice at Charlton Island and would be 
compelled to winter there. Five scouts were sent to 

* Governor Sargeant was severely censured by the directors of the 
Hudson's Bay Company for his weakness in yielding on this occasion, 
but, apparently, he had no choice in the matter. 

f The supply of provisions gave out and the troop was disbanded. 
They returned to Montreal as best they could, but the disorder was 
so great that the last one arrived a full month after the first. 



EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 63 

investigate, but two became Ul and returned, while 
the other three went on, only to be captured and put 
in irons aboard the Churchill. The Winter passed 
without action by French or English, but in the 
early Spring an effort was made to get the ship out 
of the ice. Being short-handed, one of the prisoners 
was brought up to aid the work. About the same 
time the Captain went out hunting in a birch canoe 
and was drowned. One day when six of the crew 
were in the rigging, some on shore and only two on 
deck, the Canadian killed one with an axe, released 
and armed his comrades, and forced the crew to sur- 
render. Taking possession of the arms, he kept the 
English at bay and steered toward Fort Rupert. A 
sail hove in sight, and at first he feared an enemy, 
but no ; Iberville, suspecting trouble from the long 
absence of his scouts, had seized the first moment of 
open water and was hurrying over sea to rescue 
or revenge them. The Canadians turned over the 
ship to Iberville, and the rich cargo of provisions and 
merchandise saved the French from great suffering 
during the next Winter. 

Having settled affairs on the Bay, Iberville sailed 
for Quebec with a shipload of furs late in the season 
of 1687. He left the command to his brother Mari- 
court, whom from his incessant activity the Indians 
had called " the little bird that is always in motion," * 

* Charles Le Moyne had been adopted by the Iroquois, and after 
his death that nation adopted in his place his two sons, Charles de 
Loijoraeuil and Maricourt. 



64 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

a name that might be as justly applied to any one of 
that never resting family. 

Meanwhile the " Governor and Company of Ad- 
venturers trading into Hudson's Bay" sent to King 
James a humble " peticion " for redress, which stated 
that '' the French of Canada, this year, have in a 
piratical manner taken and totally despoiled the 
Peticioners of three of their Forts and Factories on 
Hudson Bay, three of their ships or vessels. Fifty 
Thousand Beaver skins and a great quantity of pro- 
visions, stores and merchandizes laid in for many 
yeares trade and have in a small vessel turned out 
to sea above Fifty of Your Majesty's Subjects who 
were then in the Peticioners service, to shift for 
themselves or perish miserably, besides those whome 
they have killed or detained Prisoners," etc. This 
remonstrance had no immediate effect, for when 
Iberville returned to the Bay the next Spring he 
found little or no opposition. By 1689, however, 
the powerful influence of the Company began to 
bring results, and England sent the Hampshire and 
Northwest Fox to Fort Nelson for the capture of Fort 
Albany.* This expedition was quickly reported to 
Iberville, who detailed Maricourt with fourteen men 
to harass the English. The latter assailed the enemy 

* Charlevoix reports that Iberville had sent despatches overland 
from Fort Albany Jan. 5, 1G89, while La Hontan reports that in June 
he met St. Helene on the Ottawa River en route to Hudson Bay with 
supplies and despatches for Iberville. Iberville in this way kept in 
close touch with affairs at home. 



EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 65 

by night and day, sometimes on the little island upon 
which they were encamped and sometimes by inter- 
cepting their canoes and small boats. In this way 
the English had lost twenty-two men when Iberville 
came canoeing across the sea of tossing ice floes and 
found the vessels locked in the ice before Albany. 
Keeping his men in ambush until the English had 
landed eighty-two of their men, he rushed the ships. 
With an uncanny but unerring instinct he quickly 
recognized the one which carried the furs, and taking 
possession of the Hampshire as the ice broke up, he 
sailed gayly away to Quebec. The English became 
panic-stricken, and setting fire to the other ship they 
retreated overland to Fort Nelson and burned Fort 
Severn en route. Sailing across the Bay, Iberville 
was making fine progress with his prize when in the 
middle of Hudson Straits he ran full tilt into a fleet 
of English vessels coming in with supplies, while to 
make conditions worse the ice closed in around them 
and kept them all prisoners within gun-shot of one 
another. Nothing disconcerted by this awkward 
situation and feeling reasonably sure the English 
would recognize the ship as one of their own, the 
resolute Iberville ran up the English flag, and with 
a spontaneous insolence and truly French audacity 
signalled the captains to come across the ice to visit 
him. What might have happened if he had got the 
English captains into his power we can only surmise, 
for at this moment the ice cleared, and away he 



66 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

sailed, arriving at Quebec in safety with his load of 
furs. 

While awaiting new orders Iberville hastened on to 
Montreal, where he was received as a hero by his 
townspeople, who had rejoiced in his continued success 
on the Bay and the large inflow of furs which his 
activity had produced. Thus early he had revealed 
himself as an excellent tactician, a capable com- 
mander, and a captain of industry, and in recognition 
thereof Governor Denonville again urged the Minister 
to reward him with a lieutenancy in the Royal Navy. 



CHAPTER IV 

SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 
TO HUDSON BAY 

DURING his absence the aspect of affairs at 
Montreal had changed in some respects. 
Denonville had arrived at Quebec in 1685 
and had full knowledge, while the expedition against 
Hudson Bay was preparing, that a treaty was being 
negotiated at London between France and England. 
This was not a treaty of peace, for the most per- 
fect peace prevailed theoretically between the two 
Crowns, but it was in order to so establish future 
relations that war might thereafter be averted in 
the colonies across the seas. Among the twenty-one 
articles of the treaty were specifications that no 
vessels great or small should be equipped, no dam- 
age, no act of hostility was to be committed directly 
or indirectly, and no aid was to be given the Indians 
on either side by means of men, munitions, or pro- 
visions. There was a faint hope that this instrument 
might result in peace on Hudson Bay, but this by no 
means occurred. The warfare went on as before. 
Neither had it resulted in peace for the colonies. In 



68 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

fact it was a diplomatic and tactical peace only 
under the cover of which both parties pursued their 
aims as usual. Louis XIV sent secret instructions 
to the Governor at Quebec "to leave of the English 
forts on the northern Bay not a vestige standing " ; 
and in furtherance of his design to attack the Iro- 
quois, with whom the French were now supposedly 
at peace, he sent hundreds of men and thousands of 
livres in money and supplies to New France during 
the Spring of 1687. The intent was to strike the 
Senecas unawares and thus shatter the mainspring 
of English intrigue. Since February it had been 
spread abroad from the Gulf Seigniories to Fort 
Frontenac that a great campaign was preparing 
against the Iroquois. Denonville endeavored to 
mask his designs under the guise of a peace con- 
ference, but the Iroquois were suspicious and would 
not come, the English having warned them that an 
attack was contemplated. Denonville did, however, 
succeed in capturing nearly one hundred and fifty 
men, women, and children, members of a remote, 
peaceable, and unsuspecting branch of the great con- 
federacy, and these he distributed, — the women and 
children who had survived among the Christian 
Missions, and the men after baptism to the galleys 
of France. One, however, had escaped and carried 
the news to the Iroquois. 

Denonville meanwhile had embarked his people 
and arrived at Fort Frontenac, where he was met by 



SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 69 

Henri de Tonty,* Du Lhut, La Forest, and La Duran- 
taye with a body of voyageurs and Indians from the 
Upper Lakes. White and red, the French forces 
numbered about two thousand men as they began 
their march upon the now thoroughly aroused Sen- 
ecas. An ambuscade and a sharp skirmish met the 
French at the Seneca village, after which they 
marched into the burned and deserted town. The 
entire tribe had fled to their confederates in the East, 
where Denonville did not pursue them. The Senecas 
were furious with rage and refused to treat for peace, 
as Denonville expected and desired, but prowled, 
singly and in bands, around the French settlements 
to waylay the unwary. At length, through the in- 
fluence of some christianized Iroquois, a deputation 
was sent to the Governor, which was attacked on 
the march by a Huron Chief, named Le Rat, who 
hoped thereby to break off negotiations. After 
having killed some and captured the rest, he was 

* Henri de Tonty, who appears more and more frequently in the 
course of the narrative, merits considerable attention. He was a 
Neapolitan whose father invented the " tontine " system of insurance. 
Having been concerned with his father in a conspiracy against the 
Spanish power, Henri retired to France, where at the age of eighteen 
he entered the army. He won distinction and lost a hand in the ser- 
vice, and on account of the substitute which he adopted, he was nick- 
named " Iron Hand." Prince de Conti recommended him to La Salle 
in 1677, and he accompanied that leader on his voyage of discovery to 
the Illinois country, where he took command of Fort St. Louis on the 
Illinois River (Starved Rock). He administered affairs with such 
consummate skill that the post was granted to him and La Forest as a 
seigniory. His faithfulness and devotion to La Salle as well as bis 
great services to France and America have given him high distinction. 



70 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

told that it was a peac3 party — which he had very 
well known, but, feigning astonishment, he told 
them he had been instructed by Denonville to attack 
them. Thereupon he released them, saving only one 
prisoner whom he took to Mackinac and contrived to 
have shot there by the French. Le Rat told his 
friends, *^ I have killed the peace " ; and he had, for 
this treachery and the double dealing of Denonville 
were deeply resented, and the entire Iroquois Con- 
federacy burned for revenge. 

Finally the blow fell. On the night of August 4 
and 5, during a furious storm of wind, rain, and hail, 
the Iroquois, fourteen hundred strong, descended like 
a thunderbolt upon the little village of La Chine and 
wiped it off the earth. Here and in the vicinity sixty- 
six * were killed and the rest carried off for torture. 
Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil, hurrying to attack 
the retreating raiders, was borne back to Montreal, 
his arm shattered by a musket ball. 

Montreal itself, only nine miles distant, was wild 
with terror at the news. It had been fortified with 
palisades since the war began, and there were troops 
in the town under Denonville himself, but the people 
were in mortal dread. No attack was made on the 
town, and such of the inhabitants as reached it were 
safe, but, as Parkman says, the Iroquois held undis- 
puted possession of the open country and roamed in 

* This number, given by Girouard, is undoubtedly more neaj*ly 
correct than the figures quoted by Parkman and others. 




Chief Hendiuck (Iroquois) 

{Originnl in possession of Chicrigo Historicnl Society) 



SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 71 

small parties, burning, pillaging, and scalping, over 
more than twenty miles. As Parkman * effectu- 
ally demonstrates, there is no ground for the belief, 
prevalent at that time, that this particular at- 
tack on La Chine was instigated by the Dutch 
and English colonies, but, nevertheless, this the- 
ory was proclaimed as a working hypothesis. That 
they might have done so, unhappily, is not improb- 
able, but that they were ignorant of the attack is 
certain. 

While the colony was lying paralyzed and helpless 
under the shock of this disaster, James II, friend and 
subsidized ally of France, was driven from his king- 
dom, and William of Orange ascended the English 
throne. Deception, intrigue, stealthy foray, and sur- 
reptitious reprisal gave place to open warfare, and 
Frontenac was restored to the command of Canada. 
The prelude was now finished, and it was most fit- 
ting that to Frontenac should come the congenial 
duty of inaugurating that long stern contest between 
New France and New England for the control of 
North America. He received the news of the La 
Chine massacre as he entered the mouth of the 
St. Lawrence, and with characteristic energy and 
promptness he began immediately upon his arrival to 
organize an expedition of retaliation, not against the 
Iroquois who committed the outrage, but against the 
English and Dutch. He wished to show the Iro- 

* " Frontenac," page 181 note. 



72 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

quois that their reliance upon their white allies was 
a delusion and a mockery. 

Three war parties were sent out — one each from 
Quebec, Montreal, and Three Rivers — against Sal- 
mon Falls, Pemaquid, and Schenectady. The one 
from Montreal started in the late Fall of 1690, under 
the command of Ailleboust, Sieur de Manthet, and 
Le Moyne de St. Helene. With them went FrauQois 
Le Moyne de Bienville (I) and the tireless Iberville, 
who was unable to remain quiet while there was an 
adventure on foot. According to Monseignat, the 
force consisted of one hundred and sixty Canadians 
and one hundred and forty so-called Christian In- 
dians from the Missions of Saint Louis and the 
mountain of Montreal. So far as the weather was 
concerned this was an ideal journey for Iberville. It 
was the depth of Winter when they began their 
march, striding on snowshoes over the frozen St. 
Lawrence. Each had the hood of his blanket coat 
drawn over his head, a gun in his mittened hand, 
tobacco, knife, hatchet, bullet pouch at belt, and a 
pack on his back. Their blankets and provisions 
they dragged behind them on toboggans. They slept 
in the snow under a sky as clear as the heavens 
of Naples and as cold as that of Siberia. They 
broke their bread with hatchets and washed it down 
with water dug from the streams through many 
inches of ice. Threading the forest to Chambly, they 
advanced four or five days up the Richelieu River 



SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 73 

and Lake Champlain, and then stopped for council. 
Frontenac had given positive orders that snch a blow 
should be struck that the English would feel that 
matters had reached the final stage ; but he had left 
the objective to the discretion of the leaders, and 
when the band reached the head of Lake Champlain 
the Indians demanded to know where they were 
going. " To Albany," said St. Helene. The In- 
dians demurred. " How long since the French are 
grown so bold?" they asked. The French insisted 
that their honor demanded that they should take 
Albany or die in the attempt. The Indians listened 
sullenly, a decision was deferred, and the troop 
moved forward. Eight days later they reached the 
Hudson and came to the point where the roads 
diverge, one to Albany and one to the Dutch settle- 
ment of Schenectady. Without discussion they took 
the latter. Already the hardships had cost the troop 
fifty men from disability and desertion, but now the 
march became a desperate affair. At one time there 
was a thaw, and the troop, benumbed with cold, 
moved knee-deep through melted snow mingled with 
ice and mud in gloomy swamps. Then the weather 
changed and a furious snowstorm came on, and, 
garbed in ice and snow, the spectral troop moved 
through a spectral forest over the snow-sheeted 
ground. For nine long days they forced their pain- 
racked bodies through this unrelenting wilderness, 
leagued by a community of affliction and lashed on- 



74 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

ward by the intensity of their hate. The men were 
nearly dead with cold, fatigue, and hunger, when at 
four o'clock on February 8, they found an Indian hut 
in which dwelt four Mohawk squaws. Here they 
partially warmed themselves over a small fire, and 
then, taking the squaws as guides, they resumed their 
weary march. About dark they reached the Mohawk 
River, a little above the village of Schenectady. 

Here they paused, and Great Mohawk, war chief 
of the Indian contingent, harangued his followers 
with considerable eloquence, and exhorted them to 
seize this opportunity to be revenged on the English, 
the authors of all their wrongs and the cause of all 
their hardships. Somewhat animated by his ener- 
getic appeal, the troop, numb with cold and haggard 
with suffering, resumed its grisly journey. It was 
planned to make the attack at two o'clock in the 
morning, but as they could not build fires they must 
move on or perish, — the limit of endurance was 
reached, human fortitude could stand no more. One 
report says they were in such a frightful state that 
had they met the slightest opposition they must have 
surrendered.* 

The village at this time consisted of from fifty to 
eighty houses surrounded by palisades in the form 
of a rectangle with two gates at opposite sides. Here 
in false security the inhabitants lay wrapped in slum- 
ber. They had been warned to be on their guard, but 

* Drake. 



SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 75 

ridiculed the advice. The tempest raged so fiercely 
and the cold was so intense that it was believed to be 
impossible for human beings to be exposed to it and 
live. Such entire security was felt that they had 
vsdthdrawn their sentinels from the snow-covered 
palisades, leaving only a snow man at the gate in 
mockery and derision. 

Crossing the river on the ice and toiling through 
the whirling snow, the French at last reached the 
village. Iberville with one detachment went to find 
the gate to Albany and bar it against fugitives, 
but missing it in the blinding storm he hastened 
back to the main body. In long files led by St. 
Helene and Manthet, they passed in moccasined 
silence through the gate, separated, and like huge 
snakes, keeping close to the palisades, drew their 
deadly coils in two white lines entirely around the 
village until they met on the opposite side. The sig- 
nal was given and the fiendish work began. With 
war whoops and yells they broke down the doors and 
butchered the half-wakened inmates. Every possible 
cruelty and atrocity was committed. There was little 
resistance, and in two hours the massacre was ended 
and the pillage finished. Sixty persons were killed 
outright and eighty or ninety taken captive. In the 
village were thirty Mohawks, whose tribe, a member 
of the Iroquois Confederacy, was friendly to the 
Dutch and English and hostile to the French, and 
these the raiders treated with studied politeness to 



76 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

show that the foray did not include them, — their 
natural and inveterate enemies. A party of French 
then crossed the river and appeared before the gate 
of a man named John Sander Glen, one of the mag- 
istrates, whose house, loopholed and palisaded, was 
manned for defence. The French told him to fear 
nothing, as they had orders not to hurt him or his. 
After some parley they left a hostage in the hands of 
his retainers, and he went with them to the village. 
At the gate he was met by Iberville and Great 
Mohawk. Iberville showed him his commission and 
then told him that he was especially empowered 
to pay a debt the French owed him. On several 
occasions he had saved the lives of French prisoners 
in the hands of the Mohawks, and in return therefor 
he and his family and all his kindred should be 
spared. Leading him before the line of wretched 
captives, Glen stretched his privilege of choice to the 
utmost, until the French Indians, disgusted at his 
multiplied demands, observed that everybody seemed 
to be related to him. In spite of their objections 
Iberville granted every request with courteous 
manner and chivalrous words, and by this means 
nearly sixty were saved. 

At noon Schenectady was in ashes, and the 
French and Indians laden with booty withdrew in 
rapid retreat. Thirty or forty captured horses 
drew their sledges, and a band of twenty-seven 
men and boys were driven prisoners into the forest. 



SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 77 

The French and Indians had lost but two of their 
number. 

The alarm meanwhile had reached Albany at day- 
break, but it was two days before the news reached 
the friendly Mohawk " castles " that their enemies 
had made a foray. Immediately troops of eager 
warriors on snowshoes with guns and tomahawks 
hurried down to pursue the retiring French. Fifty 
young men from Albany joined the Mohawks, but 
found the pace too swift and soon returned without 
overtaking the fugitives. The Indians, however, 
with less reason but more hatred, held to the 
trail unswervingly. 

At the head of Lake George, Iberville was de- 
tached with one Canadian and two Indians to hasten 
on and carry the news to the Governor. He arrived 
at Montreal two days ahead of St. Helene, who 
followed with the troop. The French, having lost 
their incentive, became careless from fatigue as they 
neared home and lagged a little, thinking the pur- 
suit had been given over. Their food was ex- 
hausted, and the captured horses were killed and 
eaten. Their retreat was cluttered with booty and 
held back by the weak, wounded, and prisoners. 
Thus it happened that almost within sight of Mon- 
treal the pursuing Mohawks overtook a group of 
stragglers and killed or captured fifteen of them. 

The other French detachments sent out at the 
same time had been equally victorious ; the border 



78 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

had been ravaged with frightful success. The 
Indians, who had been sullenly hanging back, now 
came forward to make treaties with the French. It 
also united the English colonies in a common defence 
and brought Phipps and the colonial fleet to the 
gates of Quebec. This Schenectady expedition was 
notable, says Kingsford, in that it was the first time 
that Canada and the French deliberately adopted 
the Indian policy of war, — the policy of destruction, 
devastation, and overwhelming desolation, which 
from this time on to the English conquest was 
to be their regular method of operation. 

Returning from this raid, Iberville was ordered by 
Frontenac to take command of two armed merchant 
ships, the St. Francis and St. Anne, and cruise in 
Hudson Bay, where during his absence the English 
had regained Fort Albany. As he passed Fort Nel- 
son, he could not resist the impulse to inspect the 
place, and landed with ten men to scout around 
and possibly capture a straggler from whom he could 
learn the conditions at the fort. Arriving too near 
his despised foe, his presence was discovered, a large 
party left the post in pursuit, while the crews 
manned the English ships and prepared to resist 
attack. The iron was evidently too hot to hold, and 
Iberville dropped it, retired hastily to his ships, and 
sailed for Albany. Having arrived at this point, 
he at once acceded to the invitation extended by the 
English to meet in conference. For some reason he 



SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 79 

suspected treachery, and previous to the interview 
he carefully reconnoitred the point selected for the 
parley. His suspicions were confirmed by the dis- 
covery that the place of meeting was commanded by 
two cannon, masked in underbrush and loaded with 
small balls.* In swift indignation he put the can- 
noneers to the sword, drove back the " flag of truce," 
and returned to his ships. This unfortunate affair 
made a deep impression on Iberville and greatly inten- 
sified his bitterness toward the English, though it is 
difficult to see why this should be thought worse or 
more treacherous than the midnight attack on Sche- 
nectady. Some days after this the EngHsh sent out 
two of their larger ships, mounting twenty-two and 
fourteen guns respectively, to attack him. The 
odds being greatly against him, he resorted to a 
ruse. Calculating accurately the hour of the tide, 
he feigned flight and drew their ships into shallow 
water, where the ebb left them stranded. Then he 
returned with the next tide and took them both 
with ease. 

During these actions his lieutenant. La Fert^, had 
run down to Fort Severn (New Savanne) and captured 
it with its Governor and store of furs. Among the 
Governor's papers he found orders from the King 
that Hudson Bay should be proclaimed English terri- 
tory in violation of the treaty. He now joined his 
chief before Albany. This fort having been deprived 

* Desmazures. 



80 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

of a large part of its defences, as just described, 
Iberville again approached, prepared his batteries, 
and opened fire. Recognizing the folly of defending 
a fort too frail to resist cannon, the garrison at- 
tempted to fire the buildings in the night and escape 
to Fort Nelson, but the French entered so promptly 
that the fort and all the peltries were saved. Leav- 
ing the post under command of his brother Serigny, 
he loaded the St. Francis, his largest ship, with furs 
and returned with Maricourt to Quebec. 

As he sailed up the St. Lawrence in October, 
1690, he was hailed near the Isle aux Coudres by 
a vessel, under command of his brother Longueuil, 
who had been ordered to cruise about the mouth of 
the St. Lawrence and warn the French ships that 
Quebec was besieged by Admiral Phipps and that 
they should take refuge in the Saguenay River. He 
also learned of the death of his mother and that his 
older brother, St. H^lene, after many inspiring acts 
of courage, had been mortally wounded during the 
siege. Thus Death began to take his toll from 
the daring Le Moynes. 

Maricourt with a party of voyageurs was detached 
by Iberville to go to the aid of Quebec. The arrival 
of this sturdy band bringing the news of the recent 
French triumphs on Hudson Bay caused great joy 
and excitement among the anxious inhabitants. A 
day of rejoicing was proclaimed and public thanks 
given. Meanwhile, to save his ship and its valu- 



SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 81 

able cargo from the English, Iberville sailed for 
France. 

The Hudson Bay question began to assume greater 
seriousness, and he returned from France in 1691 
with the full intent to capture Fort Nelson. Leaving 
Quebec, he sailed with two ships, of eighteen and 
twelve guns respectively, and Bonaventure * as his 
associate in command, to Hudson Bay. Upon arrival 
he discovered that Fort Nelson was guarded by three 
ships, including one of forty guns, whereupon the 
French discreetly withdrew, for in Iberville daring 
was not alloyed with foolhardiness. But in failing 
to achieve the main enterprise he did not forget one 
of no less importance, for he brought back at the end 
of the season the two ships loaded with eighty thou- 
sand beaver and six thousand pounds of other skins. 

At Montreal the Iroquois had not been idle. Dur- 
ing the Spring and Fall they always prowled in small 
bands about the settlements as they came and went 
from their winter hunts. This year they were more 
numerous and bold than usual and attacked their 
victims in the very shadow of the palisades. No 
planting could be done nor any hunting, and the 
colony faced the imminent danger of famine. Parties 
went out in various directions to drive off the enemy. 
One band of forty Iroquois had been living in a 

* Claude Denis, Sieur de Bonaventure, belonged to one of the 
oldest Canadian families and afterward rose to the rank of admiral 
in the Navy. He was a valuable aid to Iberville. 

6 



82 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

deserted house near the fort at Repentigny for 
several weeks, and from this advantageous point 
they made their forays at leisure. A force was col- 
lected to attack them at night, and but one escaped ; 
but during the attack young Frangois Le Moyne de 
Bienville was killed. This was his second formal 
adventure, the first being that terrible Schenectady 
campaign. The manner of his death was character- 
istic of the family brand of hardihood. According 
to the report, he dashed up alone to the house shel- 
tering the Indians, fired his gun through the window, 
and shouting his name after the Iroquois custom, 
started back. He was shot, of course, before he had 
gone fifty feet. 

While the French nearly always accompanied their 
Indian allies on their forays, the English did so only 
exceptionally. Occasionally they went out in a large 
party with but a few Indians, but their usual method 
was to furnish the Iroquois with arms and encourage 
them to send war parties against the French. In 
time the Iroquois became disgusted with this one- 
sided arrangement wherein they seemed to be doing 
a larger part of the fighting, and accused the English 
of cowardice. Stimulated to disprove the charges 
of their warlike allies, the industrial English were 
driven to arms. Assembling some Indians and a 
troop of the English and Dutch colonists, Schuyler 
led a raid against the French settlements along Riche- 
lieu River. This was partially successful, although 



SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 83 

the expedition suffered heavily during the return trip. 
Thus in the cruel, barbarous temper of that age 
neither colony could be said to be superior to the 
other in the question of the ethics of warfare. It 
was slay or be slain, and so alarm followed alarm 
and raid succeeded raid, while no permanent ad- 
vantage was gained by either side. 

By an unusual effort in 1692 the unabashed 
English had retaken Fort Albany for the third 
time, and again the precious furs were diverted 
to England. Recognizing clearly that Hudson Bay 
could not be retained without command of Fort 
Nelson and being more than ever impressed with 
its enormous value, Iberville resolved to go to 
France and secure direct from the King the ships 
necessary to his undertaking, which Frontenac was 
unable to furnish him. His ideas of conquest now 
took definite shape and definite aim. He began to 
realize his personality and to lay plans for his future 
life work which apparently involved a constant war- 
fare with the English. His ambition also took a 
larger sweep, and he saw himself winning a world 
power and the entire new continent for France. 

His petition in regard to Fort Nelson was forcibly 
presented and at length was received with favor. He 
was made a Captain of Frigates and given two ships, 
the Poll and Envieux, with which he was ordered to 
convoy a fleet of twelve merchantmen to Canada and 
then proceed to Hudson Bay. At Quebec it was ar- 



84 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

ranged that two armed merchantships of the " Com- 
pagnie du Nord " should join him. The whole profit 
of the undertaking was to go to the Company, while 
the glory and the danger of the enterprise were to be 
shared between Iberville and Commander Tast of the 
King's ships. The latter rebelled at this one-sided 
arrangement, and the trip was deferred. Frontenac 
also represented that the season was too far advanced 
for an attack on the Bay, and insisted that Iberville 
should use the ships for the conquest of Pemaquid,* 
to which the English had returned after the foray of 
the war parties. He w^as ordered to take his ships 
with four hundred men, pick up two or three hun- 
dred Indians at Pentagoet, reduce Pemaquid, and 
then attack Wells, Portsmouth, and the Isle of Shoals, 
after which he could scour the sea for the English. 
After cruising about and capturing one small armed 
vessel he returned to Quebec without making the 
attack on Pemaquid. This aroused the indignation 
of Frontenac, who wrote the Minister that the pres- 
ence of his sister on the ship made Iberville cautious. 
Iberville's defence was that he found he could not 
land safely without a good pilot, which he was unable 
to secure, and, while the defences of Pemaquid were 
unfinished, there was an English man-of-war in the 
harbor which would make the landing, already un- 
safe, quite impossible. Again in the following year 
he convoyed the merchant fleet, but was detained by 

* Near Bristol, Maine. 



SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 85 

contrary winds and again arrived too late to make 
the expedition to Hudson Bay. He therefore went 
into winter quarters at Quebec and seized this op- 
portunity, the first real period of quiet since he had 
returned to Canada from his naval apprenticeship, 
to marry. The bride's name was Marie Therese 
Pollet de la Combe Pocatiere.* That he had evaded 
the marriage tie hitherto under the severe penalties 
imposed on bachelors can be explained not only by 
his prolonged absences, but by his complete immer- 
sion in his designs against the English. His mar- 
riage at this time and the birth of his two children 
show that he was not entirely impervious to the 
attractions of domestic life, but that such feelings 
occupied a very insignificant place in his active 
career is a logical inference from his character, his 
intense industry, and his keen interest in matters of 
State. 

* She was the daughter of a captain in the Carignan Regiment. 
After D'Iberville's death she went to France and married Bethune, 
lieutenant-general in the Royal Army. Nothing seems to be known 
of the children in later life. 



CHAPTER V 
FORT NELSON 

BESIDES controlling Hudson Bay, Fort Nelson 
commanded the trade in furs north and west 
of Lake Superior clear to the Rocky Moun- 
tains, and therefore was a point of utmost im- 
portance to its possessor. Serigny had returned 
from France in the Spring of 1694 with positive 
orders from the King to collect the men and join 
his brother Iberville in an attack on this post- 
They left Quebec therefore on August 16 with 
three ships-of-war, the Poli, the Salamander, and 
the Envieux, and with them again went Maricourt, 
who had distinguished himself in the siege of Quebec, 
and young Chateauguay, eighteen years old, who 
served as ensign on the Poli. He was burning 
with zeal and eager to win his spurs in this new 
adventure. Father Marest* was the chaplain and 
historian of the voyage, being sent, as he says, by 
his superiors because, being newly arrived and 
knowing no Indian language, he was the least 
valuable to Canada. His narrative of the expedition 

* From 1699 to 1702 Father Marest was in charge of the Eliuois 
Mission and therefore again within Iberville's sphere of influence. 



FORT NELSON 87 

is too circumstantial for full quotation. Amid ice- 
bergs and storms, calms and contrary currents, 
Iberville finally passed Hudson Straits on September 
20 and reached the mouth of Nelson River four 
days later. It was such bitter weather that the 
mariners made vows to St. Anne, says Father Marest, 
hoping thereby to obtain mitigation of the cold. 
Shifting shoals of sand drift barred the sea from 
the main coast for ten miles north and south, but 
across the shoals were gaps visible at low tide 
through which the current rushed. At this point 
the Hayes and Nelson Rivers empty into Hudson 
Bay by a common mouth, but their junction is but 
a short distance from the Bay. Fort Nelson was 
located about four miles from the mouth on the 
triangular tongue of land bounded by the two river 
channels converging and conjoined. The fort, stand- 
ing above high water about eighty yards from the 
river, was the usual stockade structure of the period, 
with bastions at the four corners, which were used as 
storehouses and residences. The river front of the 
fort was further protected by a crescent-shaped 
earthwork sheltering eight cannon and having at 
its foot a platform fortified by six cannon. The 
weakest side was on the north, where there was no 
provision made for training the cannon toward the 
woods. In all, the armament consisted of thirty- 
two cannon and fourteen swivel guns outside the 
fort and fifty-three inside. The environment was 



88 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

not inviting nor the outlook attractive ; in fact, there 
was absolutely no advantage to induce residence 
except its commanding importance in the fur trade. 
The soil was not unproductive, though the season 
was very short, but large areas of the country were 
covered by an inundated swamp (muskeg) through 
which one must wade sometimes to the waist and 
over most of which there spread an almost im- 
penetrable growth of low stunted pine. During 
the summer months the clouds of mosquitoes greatly 
increased the trouble and danger. 

Hoping their arrival had been unnoticed, a force 
was sent to attempt the fort by surprise. The water 
was shallow and the men threw themselves over, 
thigh deep, into the slush ice, and waded ashore. 
The English, however, were alert, having seen them 
a long way off, and the landing party was driven 
back. Two days were spent in making soundings, 
and then the ships were conducted past the fort, from 
which they received several volleys, and anchored, 
one on either side of the tongue of land, about six 
miles up the two rivers which form by their ap- 
proach to a common mouth the peninsula on the 
south side of which the fort was located. On ac- 
count of the shallow icy water, the ebb of the tide, 
and the furious northwest snowstorms, the vessels 
were nearly lost before the anchorage was secured. 
Vows were again made to St. Anne before the weather 
would moderate. The ice hurled against the ships 



J^ 



59 

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a- 

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Map miowixc Location of Foi;t Nki.son (Youk Kour) 

^F|■,„„ //»/,«„„•., "Sir )>,„■,,,■„ ll,„ls„„\< l:,ui", 



FORT NELSON 89 

by the furious wind made a noise that could be 
heard a league away, and the hulls were broken 
in several places by the savage impact. Throughout 
all Iberville was everywhere, looking after his ship 
and crew. Some of the cannon were thrown over- 
board to lighten the vessel before it could be dragged 
over the bar to a secure anchorage. Men were 
landed to harass the fort, cut off stragglers, intercept 
spies, and prevent interference with the small boats 
from the ship. During this skirmishing to divert 
the attention of the garrison, the imprudent au- 
dacity of the young Le Moynes was again rebuked. 
In a reckless attempt to emulate his brethren and 
win distinction on this his first adventure young 
Chateauguay was killed. Although extraordinarily 
touched by the premature death of this tenderly 
loved brother, Iberville took the blow with com- 
pressed lips and only busied himself the more deeply 
in his preparations, fearing, as Father Marest says, 
that any sign of weakness on his part might dis- 
courage the men, who were already almost over- 
come by the many hardships. Father Marest was 
the messenger between the two ships and made his 
first trail in the great wilderness at this place. He 
was much gratified at his success, which he piously 
attributed to his patron saint. By the thirteenth 
of October the batteries had been placed and all was 
in readiness to open fire. According to custom a 
summons to surrender was sent to the garrison with 



90 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

an offer of good conditions. A delay for considera- 
tion was requested until the next day, which was 
granted. The fort was then given up without 
conditions with its garrison of fifty-three men, and 
Father Marest says with some scorn that they did 
not even ask for their arms and flag. Sixty men 
were sent to take possession. The English burghers, 
expert in trade but untrained in war, were no match 
for the fiery voyageurs led by the redoubtable 
Iberville. 

One is repeatedly impressed by the ease and 
celerity with which Iberville secured his victories. 
This is explainable, not alone on the ground that he 
surpassed his opponents in intellect and militarism, 
but also because the completeness of his preparations 
dismayed his antagonists and the determination he 
exhibited destroyed their courage. Furthermore, in 
principle the assailants have an energy from their 
excitement and an impetuosity of courage which the 
defenders cannot have from the very nature of the 
conditions. It was a test of character rather than 
of physique, of resolution rather than of stockades. 

Winter now set in with its usual severity, and 
with it a new foe appeared and decimated the gar- 
rison; scurvy broke out in the camp and raged 
violently throughout the season. The English re- 
ports also complain bitterly about the way the 
English prisoners were treated by the French Com- 
mandant, La Forest, during the frequent absences 



FORT NELSON 91 

of Iberville and Maricourt. The writings state that 
the English suffered such hardships in captivity that 
many wandered away into the forest and either 
joined the Indians or perished from exposure, since 
they were never afterward heard from. During 
this period the Le Moynes could not remain inactive, 
and they made various trips around the Bay, and 
occupied themselves in recapturing from the Eng- 
lish the other posts, so that the entire region fell 
under French control. 

Iberville now began to prepare for the spring 
campaign. By July 30, 1695, the ice had broken 
up in the Bay, and the ships dropped down to 
the mouth of the river to await the fleet from 
England with supplies and merchandise. Having 
lingered as long as possible on what proved to be 
a fruitless quest, Iberville left La Forest in com- 
mand and sailed in September for Quebec. He was 
delayed by contrary winds off the Labrador coast, 
and having many sick on board, he changed his 
plan and sailed for France. 

Shortly after his departure the English fleet of 
five vessels appeared before the fort with the annual 
supplies and a strong force of the Company's 
servants. Resolved upon defence, La Forest sent 
a squad of his rangers under Jeremie to ambush 
and, if possible, to destroy the landing party. Their 
fire was so rapid and deadly that the English were 
driven back with the conviction that the fort was 



92 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

strongly defended. The ships thereupon opened fire 
with bombs, and La Forest was forced to capitu- 
late. Good conditions were offered and accepted, but 
after entering the fort the English, ashamed of 
their repulse by so small a garrison, violated the 
articles of surrender and sent the French as prisoners 
to England. 

During the next Spring, while the English ships 
still lay before the fort, Le Moyne de Serigny arrived 
from France with two ships to reinforce the garri- 
son. Finding the fort in English hands and defended 
by a superior fleet, he returned without making an 
attack. 

The French rarely had enough men to garrison 
the posts which they took from the English, and in 
a measure this explains the frequency with which 
they were recaptured. On the other hand, there is 
the possibility that the small garrison might be in- 
tentional and that the recapture of the forts was 
not unwelcome to the French, since the large re- 
sources of the English company could thereby be 
utilized to stock the posts with furs, a desirable con- 
dition to precede another French attack. 

Iberville arrived at Rochelle October 9, 1695, 
with his shipload of peltries. Pontchartrain* thanked 
him in behalf of the King for his services, and he in 

* In the Department of the Marine Louis Ph^lypeaux, Count of 
Pontchartrain, succeeded Seignelay Nov. 5, 1690, and was followed 
in 1699 by his own son, Jerome Phelypeaux, Count of Maurepas. 



FORT NELSON 93 

turn interested the Minister in his new projects, for 
from this time on his opinion carried great weight 
in American affairs. 

It was an inspiring time to visit France. Louis 
XIV reigned in splendor over the most powerful 
nation and the most brilliant capital of the age. Dis- 
tinguished scholars and renowned warriors thronged 
his dazzling court, and laid their honors as a will- 
ing tribute at the feet of the city whose magnifi- 
cent buildings and intellectual eminence made her 
the queen of civilization. The elite of Europe 
crowded the great boulevards from the Gate of St. 
Martin to the Bastille, while Les Invalides, Les 
Tuileries, and Le Louvre reared high their sculp- 
tured glories for an appreciative world. Versailles 
also had become a marvel of wealth and grandeur, 
the peculiar pride of the living and the destined 
monument of the dead King. Hither naturally 
came Iberville. From the solitude of the lakes, 
from the grim shadows of the wilderness, and from 
the perils of the lonely trail, he came to the glit- 
tering concourse at Paris and the favor of the 
Kino;, 

The horizon of the young commander expanded 
broadly, and his ambitions rose to greater heights 
from a close survey of the armies and navies of 
the Grand Monarch, then at the zenith of his power. 
His fancy was stimulated, his imagination took fire, 
and he dreamed of great things. His mental at- 



94 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

titude had become one of settled hostility toward 
England as the principal obstacle to the expansion 
of New France, a hostility comparable only to that 
of the Iroquois toward the French settlements. 
His active brain teemed with plans for the destruc- 
tion of the English colonies. In the magnificent 
fleet which he found in the harbors of France he 
saw with his naval training a means to effect his 
aim. Under a competent commander, one desper- 
ate battle rightly conceived and properly executed 
could destroy the English Navy, and thereafter the 
merchantmen could be swept from the seas at leisure 
and sent as prizes to France. Then the colonial 
seaboard would lie open to the French and the 
coast could be ravaged from Charleston to Pema- 
quid and the captured cities either ransomed or 
destroyed. The English whom he had met hitherto 
were an inferior class who did not merit his re- 
spect, and he had received a very poor idea of their 
militarism. 

However, the attack by sea presented many diffi- 
culties, which he saw very clearly, and laying this 
plan aside temporarily, he began to consider the 
feasibility of an alternative campaign which hinged 
upon a land attack. This he elaborated more fully, 
and during his trip to Acadia the following year he 
wrote it out in detail and forwarded it to the Min- 
ister on the ship sent out by M. de Brouillon in 
December, 1696. This ship was wrecked on the 



FORT NELSON 95 

coast of Spain, and with this mishap Iberville's 
plan slumbered until he chose to resurrect it later. 
Frontal attack in force if persistent might in time 
wear down the English colonies, but in checkmat- 
ing the English there was one method and one 
only that could succeed. Iberville insisted that 
step by step with the growth of New France a 
chain of agricultural and trading colonies must be 
established along the Great Lakes and down the 
Mississippi. This plan, so evident now, was at that 
time perceived but by a few. Frontenac was one of 
these and was striving by night and day to make 
it possible. The great La Salle had seen the light 
among the first, and his stern, intrepid soul, worn 
out in a passionate effort to convince the little minds 
and overcome the more formal obstacles of the 
Court, had already met martyrdom in his heroic 
crusade. 

From another viewpoint and with a different aim 
the Jesuits had sought to produce the same result, 
but the destruction of the Huron Nation by the 
Iroquois had ruined their hopes. Pontchartrain also 
was to have a brief glimpse of the mighty pano- 
rama that appeared so clearly to the others, but he 
was overborne by the sheer inertia of ignorance, 
superstition, and European politics. Iberville had 
the idea strongly developed, and again and again 
he urged upon the attention of the Minister his 
views as outlined above. Later in the narrative 



95 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

he will appear with his brethren, following in the 
wake of La Salle and zealously striving to erect a 
western barrier to that restless English tide that 
threatened momentarily to surge through the rocky 
passes of the Alleghanies and overwhelm the entire 
Mississippi Valley. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE NEWFOUNDLAND CAMPAIGN 

NEWFOUNDLAND is situated at the junc- 
tion of three great ocean currents. At this 
point the St. Lawrence River from the west 
meets the ice-burdened current from the Arctic 
Ocean, both of which are tempered and warmed by 
the great GuK Stream from the Tropics. The 
rock-laden icebergs dissolve and drop their burden 
gradually. Marine animals from the Tropics and 
animalculae coming north in the Gulf Stream meet 
their death in the frigid waters of the Polar Sea, 
and their bodies descend and join the detritus from 
the icebergs in creating the Grand Banks. Mean- 
while the shallow water and abundance of food 
bring hither vast numbers of fish of many species. 
As early as 1504 the fishing had begun, and by 
1578 there were one hundred and fifty French 
vessels on the Grand Banks. The English, too, 
had established many fishing stations along the 
eastern coast, and with customary enterprise they 
had made communication easy between them by 
opening up roads through the forests. Next to the 
fur trade, the fisheries brought the greatest re- 



98 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

turn, and at this time the sum amounted to about 
$5,000,000 per year. The English as well as 
the French fully understood the transcendent com- 
mercial importance of Newfoundland, and realized 
that it controlled an industry that was easily the 
most extensive and could become the most valuable 
in the world. 

None better than Iberville, the buccaneer fur- 
trader, recognized the consequences of such a mo- 
nopoly. He had urged upon Frontenac, and by the 
advice of the Governor had represented to the Court,* 
that the commerce of England in Newfoundland 
could make them powerful enough if unchecked to 
dominate the French colony, and he offered to lead 
an expedition against them. After considerable dis- 
cussion it was arranged that the King's ships should 
transport the men, while Iberville and others with 
him should pay them and divide the plunder for 
their compensation, an arrangement that was not 
unusual in those days. He began therefore immedi- 
ately to arrange an expedition against the English 
fishing stations in Newfoundland. These settlements 
extended along the coast from Cape Race north to 
Cape St. Francis, thence along both shores of Con- 
ception Bay to Grates Point, its most northern 
extremity, thence along both sides of Trinity Bay 
to Cape Bonavista, making altogether a line two or 

* Lettre de d'Iberville daus son dossier, aux Archives de la 
Marine. 



THE NEWFOUNDLAND CAMPAIGN 99 

three hundred miles long. While Iberville was 
making his preparations, governmental advices were 
sent to M. de Brouillon,* in command of the only 
French establishment on the island, at Placentia on 
the southeastern part, to use all his power to aid 
the expedition of which Iberville was given the com- 
mand. In June, 1696, Iberville returned to Canada 
with M. de Bonaventure, an ofB.cer of the navy, with 
two ships. He had assembled a hundred Canadians 
the previous year for a hazardous enterprise, and 
these he found ready to join him. He enrolled them 
with others and took many volunteers from the 
coureiirs de hois. These men had for their principal 
merit a tried courage and proved hardihood, and they 
met so many dangers that in the memoirs of the 
time it is suggested that they should be called 
coureurs des risques. But to the same degree 
that they were brave and hardy, they were also 
lawless, mutinous, and unmanageable except under 
a leader of great tact, experience, and determination. 
Du Luth as well as Iberville excelled in control- 
ling these bold but irresponsible warriors. Having 
chosen his men, Iberville sent word to Brouillon that 
he would join him during the first days of September. 
But in the midst of this activity Governor Frontenac, 

* Jacques Fran9ois de Brouillon belonged to a good family, of 
Guienne, France, and had served as an officer of infantry since 1670. 
He was appointed Governor of Placentia in 1690. Although an 
officer of merit, he was inclined to peculation, and both merchants 
and inhabitants made frequent complaints under his administration. 



100 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

uneasy over the progress made by the English in 
Acadia and seeing a force ready at hand, required 
Iberville to take part in an attack on Pemaquid, 
which had been reoccupied by the English after its 
desolation by the Abenaki Indians. 

From Pemaquid the English constantly threatened 
the Indian allies of France. With two frigates, the 
Profond and the Unvieux, Iberville and Bonaventure 
arrived at Spanish Bay, June 26, 1696, where they 
found letters awaiting them with the information 
that three English vessels were cruising near the 
entrance of the St. John Kiver. Here also they 
met M. Baudoin, erstwhile mousquetaire in the 
King's Guard and now a Jesuit Father, who joined 
the expedition as Chaplain and became its historian. 
This militant churchman was a valuable adjunct to 
the enterprise and in close sympath}/ with his en- 
ergetic commander. The news of the English vessels 
rejoiced him greatly, and he says, " God be praised, 
for we are resolved to go and find them." They 
set sail, and about July 14 three English ships were 
signalled and Iberville went immediately to attack 
them. The ships were the Newport ^ twenty-four 
guns, the Sorling^ thirty-four guns, and a tender 
from Massachusetts. In the contest that followed 
the Newport was dismasted and taken after a battle 
that lasted two hours, but the Sorling and the tender 
escaped in the fog. The French suffered no loss. 
Baudoin says that Iberville had closed the ports of 



THE NEWFOUNDLAND CAMPAIGN 101 

the Profond and otherwise disguised her to lure 
the English into engagement. After taking on some 
more men at St. Johns they assembled three hundred 
Abenaki Indians, and having given them a big feast, 
all started for Pemaquid, the Indians by canoe, the 
French by ship, and arrived August 14, 1696. The 
fort of Pemaquid, mounting sixteen guns, stood on 
the west side of the promontory of the same name, 
on the river of that name near its mouth. The walls 
formed a quadrangle, with ramparts of rough stone, 
incapable, however, of resisting heavy shot. On 
August 15 the mortars and cannon were disembarked. 
The summons to surrender was met with a valorous 
refusal, in which Governor Chubb stated that he 
would fight "even if the sea were covered with 
French ships and the land with Indians." By work- 
ing all night Iberville surrounded the fort with bat- 
teries so placed that when morning came the 
Governor was convinced that resistance would be 
useless. Terms were accorded him, and the fort 
was evacuated, the men marching out without arms. 
True to his promise, Iberville sent the people of the 
fort to an island in the bay beyond the reach of his 
red allies; otherwise it would have gone hard with 
them when the Indians discovered an Indian prisoner 
in chains and nearly dead in the dungeon of the fort. 
The aim of the expedition was thus accomplished, 
and Iberville, fearing that the expelled English might 
return, destroyed the fort and gave the arms and 



102 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

ammunition to the Indians as their share of the 
plunder. 

Meantime the Sorling arrived at Boston with her 
report of the naval battle, and found there the 
British men-of-war Arundel and Boston. With 
these and an armed merchantman, four in all,* the 
Sorling sailed for Portsmouth, the supposed object of 
the next French attack. Failing to find the French 
there, they sailed on toward Pemaquid and dis- 
covered Iberville's two frigates sailing northward 
along the shore. They tried to intercept them 
near Mt. Desert, Maine, but darkness came on and 
with it a heavy fog, under cover of which the 
French escaped. 

After the demolition of the fort at Pemaquid, 
Iberville had set out for Placentia, where he was to 
meet Brouillon. He arrived there on September 12, 
only to find to his great surprise that Brouillon 
was unwilling to serve under another, and, hoping 
to obtain the glory of its capture and the large 
booty for himself, had hastened with his fleet to 
attack St. Johns, on the eastern coast, which was 
the greatest centre for trade and shipping as well 
as the oldest settlement on the island. He thus 
disregarded his promises to Iberville and the orders 
of the King. Furthermore Iberville had warned 
him that the city could not be taken by sea alone 
on account of the tides, winds, and the nature of 
* Baudoiu says seven. 



THE NEWFOUNDLAND CAMPAIGN 103 

the shore. This Brouillon soon found to be true, 
when, beginning the bombardment, he discovered 
that the vessels could not keep their places in the 
roadstead but were swept to the south by the cur- 
rents. He therefore disembarked some troops and 
captured a few insignificant fishing stations, and 
then returned, much chagrined, to Placentia, only to 
find himself face to face with Iberville. Iberville 
had planned to march overland and surprise Car- 
boniere, which was the strongest place on the island 
and harbored, as he had learned, eight ships loaded 
with cod. As events proved, this would have been 
the wisest course, but Brouillon would not consent 
to cooperate and opposed Iberville at every possible 
point. All the reports seem to agree that Brouillon 
was a grasping, avaricious, and tyrannical man 
whom no one hked or even respected. This feel- 
ing obtained especially among his soldiers, whom he 
compelled to fish while he took the proceeds. He 
now insisted that he should be made chief in com- 
mand, that the expedition should be deferred until 
the following year, and that Iberville's force should 
be joined to his for an attack on St. Johns. 

Iberville tried to clear up the matter, said it was 
not yet too late, and that Winter was by all odds the 
most propitious time for such an undertaking be- 
cause the attack would be so unexpected and the 
forces would not be bothered by the spring floods. 
Furthermore, the sea method was not desirable on 



104 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

account of the many inlets and bays, but by land 
the troops could move swiftly along the roads the 
English had built for themselves. Brouillon refused 
to listen. A winter campaign full of hardships pre- 
sented to him few of the advantages and none of 
the delights that thrilled the tireless Iberville. 
Finally he said, if Iberville wished to go, he might, 
but he would remove the Canadians from his com- 
mand and put them under Captain des Muys. 
Although much disturbed by this decision which de- 
prived him of the flower of his command, Iberville 
displayed great self-control and moderation ; he 
withdrew all his personal claims and said the mat- 
ter should be referred to the Minister for adjudi- 
cation, and as he had hired the Canadians he was 
disposed to accept the proposition rather than give 
up the expedition and assume the loss. Not so the 
Canadians. These hardy woodrangers were his 
Tenth Legion who would fight only under Cassar 
and under him they were invincible. They made 
a great outcry, claiming they had been engaged by 
Iberville, who had received authority from Frontenac, 
and they refused to march and even threatened to 
go home unless left under Iberville's command. 
Brouillon's exhortations, remonstrances, and even 
threats were equally fruitless, and, knowing they 
would do as they threatened, he finally yielded with 
bad grace. The division of the spoil was also a 
source of irritation and discussion, as Brouillon 



THE NEWFOUNDLAND CAMPAIGN 105 

claimed and insisted upon receiving the larger 
share. 

Iberville tactfully yielded in regard to Carboniere, 
and, the other points at issue being composed tem- 
porarily, they set out, Iberville over land and 
Brouillon by sea, to meet at Rogneuse, a few 
leagues south of St. Johns. Although invited to 
sail with Brouillon, Father Baudoin gallantly chose 
the more hazardous trip undertaken by Iberville 
and his Canadians. The course led over half- 
frozen marshes where the troop alternately waded 
knee-deep in the ice-filled water and slid upon the 
ice-covered surface and crossed foaming rivers of ice 
and water which came to their waists. Neverthe- 
less Iberville reached the rendezvous at the appointed 
time and found Brouillon awaiting him with a new 
grievance about the booty. Iberville put his foot 
down sternly, and the objection was withdrawn. 
Having landed the provisions and munitions from 
his vessel, the Prof and, Iberville sent it away with 
prisoners, as he could not use it in land operations. 
Assuming that now, at any rate, the advantage was 
his, Brouillon again made a disturbance about the 
Canadian force and the booty; but Iberville sug- 
gested that after so much vacillation Brouillon might 
incite a serious revolt among the restless Canadians, 
so things were left as before. 

November 20 the march on St. Johns began. 
Gabriel Montigny, who was next to Iberville in com- 



106 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

mand and efficiency, marched ahead with thirty 
men, then came Iberville and Brouillon with the 
main body. One vessel and several stations were 
captured en route. As they neared St. Johns, they 
were opposed by eighty men who had felled trees 
for breastworks across the road. After some skir- 
mishing Iberville led a charge and overcame the 
enemy, who were driven back into the city. The 
pursuit was so close, says Baudoin, that Iberville 
and a few followers entered the city with the 
fugitives and captured two small outposts and thirty- 
three men. Being unsupported, he was compelled 
to retire. With a hundred men the large fort could 
have been captured at this time. The conduct of the 
troops under fire in this and various other engage- 
ments led the observant Baudoin to reflect that 
Brouillon's men did not compare favorably with the 
Canadians; he thought they needed some training 
against the Iroquois. The city of St. Johns was 
garrisoned by two hundred and fifty untrained men, 
but the fort was well equipped, surrounded by pali- 
sades, buttressed with bastions, and provided with 
cannon. The demand for surrender was refused. 
Then the garrison asked for a delay of two days 
in which to consider the matter, as they hoped by 
that time that two ships which could be seen tack- 
ing to and fro across the harbor mouth would 
secure a favorable wind and come to their assist- 
ance. The French also had seen the ships and de- 






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Map of Campaign in Newfoundland, 1696-7 

{From Prorvse's " History of Neivfoundland." Used by courtesy of D. W. Prowse) 



THE NEWFOUNDLAND CAMPAIGN 107 

manded an immediate answer, which was again 
refused. Iberville and Montigny now led two de- 
tachments to make a night attack on the city and 
set fire to portions of it. Both succeeded. On the 
following morning the entrenchments were finished, 
and when the batteries were brought up and all was 
ready to open fire, the fort surrendered. Brouillon 
conducted the negotiations without consulting Iber- 
ville and made himself as obnoxious as possible. 
The two ships in the offing sailed away as soon as 
the place yielded. Sixty-two thousand quintals * of 
codfish fell into the hands of the French. The city 
could not be occupied, so it was burned. The news of 
the event spreading through the English stations 
produced the greatest consternation. After the fall 
of St. Johns, Brouillon declared himself overcome 
with fatigue and decided to return to Placentia, 
leaving to Iberville the honors and responsibilities 
of a winter campaign which in his heart he hoped 
and expected would be fatal to all concerned. 

Iberville was quite delighted to be relieved of the 
presence of his vexatious and obtrusive associate, 
and he began his march in midwinter with one 
hundred and twenty-five Canadians and a few 
Indians. For two months this indefatigable Knight 
of the Snows led his hardy band through the wintry 
forests and wind-swept marshes of Newfoundland. 
Bivouacking in the snow and carrying their provisions 

* A quintal is equivalent to one hundred pounds. 



108 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

and ammunition or\ their backs as they moved from 
hamlet to hamlet, they carried death and destruction 
along those desolate and rock-bound coasts. The 
English were completely surprised, for they had not 
the slightest idea that a land attack was possible, 
and especially in midwinter, for up to this time 
they had never seen snowshoes ; besides, they had 
yet to learn, as they quickly did, the remorseless 
pertinacity of the ironlike Iberville in the execution 
of his tasks. To the English villages the incursion 
of Iberville resembled nothing less than the fell 
descent of the Angel of Wrath. Some of the in- 
habitants were killed, but most were swept up like 
dust and carried to France. They could have been 
no more surprised, no more powerless, no more 
utterly extinguished, if some great cataclysm of 
Nature had overwhelmed them. 

The hardships of the march were terrible for the 
French, but they were frankly met and bravely 
overcome. Baudoin says : " The roads are so bad 
that we can find only twelve men strong enough to 
beat the path. Our snowshoes break on the crust 
and against rocks and fallen trees hidden under 
the snow, which catch and trip us, but for all that, 
we cannot help laughing to see now one and then 
another fall headlong." The climatic conditions 
made a more serious defence than the English, whose 
resistance was feeble and fruitless. It was a journey 
rather than a conquest, but a journey of such fright- 



THE NEWFOUNDLAND CAMPAIGN 109 

ful hardships that it was inconceivable to his con- 
temporaries that it could be done by a white man; 
certainly no human obstacle could have been harder 
than the grim defence of Nature. The entire shore 
became panic-stricken as station after station fell 
into the hands of the French. Portugal Cove, 
Salmon Cove, Havre de Grace, Bay Verte, Hearts 
Content, Old Perlican, and twenty other stations all 
fell before the French raiders. The coast was swept 
clean for a time, with two exceptions, of all vestiges 
of English occupation. Bonavista on account of its 
remoteness was spared temporarily, while Carboniere 
defied them. This fort was located on an island 
with lofty, precipitous sides and had only one en- 
trance to the harbor. This entrance was difficult 
to pass even during calm weather, while the fierce 
winter storms and the floating batteries which de- 
fended it made passage impossible. Once at mid- 
night in a driving storm of sleet Iberville and ninety 
men went entirely around the island in boats, so 
close that they could touch with their hands the 
steep sides of the frowning cliffs; but no shelf or 
foothold could they find. Day after day Iberville 
surveyed that impregnable fortress with eager yearn- 
ing, but the beating surf and the glassy ice made 
assault impracticable, and he eventually withdrew, 
fully determined to return to the attack with better 
facilities. 

As a whole, the raid had been a great success. In 



110 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

a campaign of five months the little band had 
conquered five hundred square leagues of country, 
marched two hundred leagues, captured and de- 
stroyed ninety vessels, made seven hundred prisoners, 
killed two hundred men, and seized one hundred and 
ninety thousand quintals of codfish. This expedition 
was the first of many undertaken during the next 
ten years in Newfoundland, conducted with the same 
purpose and on the same plan, but none was so 
successful nor so thorough as this one. 

The raid of the French caused great alarm all 
along the coast from New England to Virginia. In 
England too there was great indignation against the 
Government that no defence had been furnished the 
colony. Now, when it was too late for protection, 
a large naval and military force under Admiral 
Norris was sent to patrol the coast, survey the ruins, 
and recapture the desolated land. They found no 
enemy. The French had swooped down like birds 
of prey, harried the English settlements, and flown 
heavily back to Placentia. When the English relief 
arrived, they found St. Johns completely abandoned. 
The French had burnt, pillaged, and destroyed every- 
thing movable and immovable. In that once flour- 
ishing settlement no building was left standing, the 
fort was demolished, and, as Prowse says, " literally 
not one stone was left upon another." Iberville 
had done his work with characteristic thoroughness. 

He was now at Placentia, daily expecting news 



THE NEWFOUNDLAND CAMPAIGN 111 

of the fleet promised him from France for the new 
Hudson Bay project. While waiting, he armed and 
outfitted his men for an attack on Bonavista and 
Carboniere. He picked his people with great care 
and with an eye to those who could best withstand 
the greatest hardships. In his selection he had 
great trouble, for every one was eager to join an 
expedition which was to be conducted by the young 
Commander, who had become the most popular and, 
except Frontenac, the most conspicuous man in New 
France. During the last campaign the Canadians 
had not only made war but had acquired wealth. 
They were under strict discipline, and everything 
had been saved. Their rich booty, however, was 
now a source of trouble. The harsh, impracticable, 
impossible Brouillon made known in the most formal 
way that he expected to share in all the benefits 
of the last expedition, an expedition in which he 
had only partially participated and for which his 
share had been received. When this preposterous 
demand was abruptly refused, he imprisoned some 
of his opponents and attempted to deprive Iberville 
of the services of his invaluable lieutenant, Montigny. 
Iberville had now reached the limit of his patience 
and was about to use forcible measures, when, on 
May 18, 1697, his brother Serigny arrived from 
France with the fleet and brought urgent orders 
for the attack on Hudson Bay. It was specified 
in the orders that the completion of the campaign 



112 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

might be accomplished by Brouillon, while Iberville 
turned his conquering hand to a more important 
matter. It is interesting to note that, in spite of 
Brouillon, the English occupied all their previous 
stations by the end of the following year. 

Reluctantly leaving unfinished his plans which 
demanded that no English colonist should remain 
in Newfoundland, Iberville again took up the problem 
of Hudson Bay. 



CHAPTER VII 

BATTLE OF HUDSON BAY AND THE RECAPTURE 
OF FORT NELSON 

THE ships were fitted out, the men recalled 
from various parts of the coast, and when 
the preparations were finished the squadron 
sailed, July 8, 1697, for Hudson Bay. Iberville 
commanded the Pelican, fifty guns and one hundred 
and fifty men, Serigny the Profond, and Boisbriant the 
Wasp. Two other ships, the Palmier and the Esqui- 
maux, completed the fleet, the latter being a supply 
ship. Besides Serigny, Iberville had with him also 
his younger brother, Jean Baptiste de Bienville,* the 
second of that surname, who was now a midshipman 
sixteen years old and eager to assume his part in 
sustaining and contributing to the family distinction. 
The harsh hand of pioneer life brings an early matu- 
rity, and, trained and hardened by the Newfoundland 
campaign, he now makes formal appearance in those 
foreign enterprises from which afterward in Louisi- 
ana he was to acquire such renown. La Potherie 
and J^r^mie, who accompanied the expedition, were 

* Afterward Grovemor of Louisiana and founder of New Orleans. 

8 



114 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

the two historians by whom it was afterward 
chronicled. 

In sixteen days the fleet was breaking the ice and 
dodging the icebergs of Hudson Straits. Unless the 
ships kept close together they were lost from sight in 
the multitude of ice mountains. The Pelican was in 
the lead, and the giant bergs as far as the eye could 
see moved and mingled like clouds, advanced in line, 
in clusters, and in platoons. At times two giants 
three hundred feet high would crash together with a 
noise like thunder. Again the wind would overturn 
one of these top-heavy floating mountains and then 
woe to the ship near by ! In one such phenomenon 
a mizzenmast was carried away from one ship, and 
another, the Esquimaux, was lost with her valuable 
cargo. The crew alone was saved with great diffi- 
culty. The sky was generally covered with hard 
white clouds, from which, even in the clearest 
weather, it was never entirely free, but they always 
knew when they were approaching the ice, long 
before they saw it, by a bright appearance on the 
horizon called by the Greenlanders " the blink of the 
ice." The navigation, extra hazardous at all times, 
reached its maximum in the furious storms that fre- 
quently occur in those Straits, On July 24 the 
squadron ran into one that lasted for nine hours, 
and when the wind died down the Pelican was cov- 
ered with ice from peak to waterline, the ropes and 
sails immovable, and the watchman on his high sta- 



BATTLE OF HUDSON BAY 115 

tion was stifE and white like a monument. Worse 
than all, the other ships of the fleet had disappeared. 
With considerable anxiety Iberville grappled the ice 
and waited many days for the consorts. The crew 
spent the time in hunting and fishing and trading 
with the Esquimaux. At length, thinking the other 
ships must have passed and would be awaiting him, 
the Commander gave up hope and sailed, arriving on 
September 5 before Fort Nelson; but he found no 
trace of his fleet. 

Two days later three vessels were sighted in the 
offing which seemed to be the rest of the squadron. 
Amid universal joy the flags of welcome were 
hoisted, but the ships gave no response and came on 
under full sail in deadly silence. This strange be- 
havior, though soon explained, caused much perplex- 
ity. They were three English ships, and they had 
met the Profond in the Straits and, as Iberville 
afterward learned from prisoners, two of them, the 
Hudson's Bay and the Dering, attacked her as she 
lay fastened in the ice. For six hours the cannon- 
ading was continued, but when the ice broke up the 
Profond sailed off, though the English were con- 
vinced she could not float long. 

The English fleet was made up of the Hampshire, 
fifty-two guns and one hundred and fifty men, the 
Dering, thirty guns and one hundred men, and the 
Hudson's Bay, an armed merchantman of thirty-two 
guns, in all one hundred and fourteen guns and about 



116 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

three hundred and fifty men, to oppose which the 
Pelican had her fifty guns and one hundred and fifty 
men. Iberville was thus caught between the fort and 
the English fleet, but his stout heart never failed. 
With full appreciation of his danger he made no ef- 
fort to evade the issue. He says, " Seeing they were 
English, I prepared to fight them." His ship had 
been under way to meet his friends, and she continued 
on her course to meet the enemy. The batteries 
were manned high and low, his young brother De 
Bienville having a responsible post on the more ex- 
posed and dangerous upper tier. La Potherie, St. 
Martin, and the most experienced men were placed 
on the forward deck, while Iberville took his station 
near the pilot to direct all. He recognized at once 
that this would be a fight to the death, that he or 
the English must yield, and he was determined that 
it should not be he. Since the enemy was numeri- 
cally stronger in ships, guns, and men, he resolved 
to board at the first opportunity rather than fight the 
fleet as the centre of a circle of fire. As he directed 
his ship toward the Hampshire, his well-known 
blonde hair and martial figure enabled the English 
to recognize him, and they cried triumphantly, ** You 
shall not escape us this time." The cries and hurrahs 
were then redoubled. It was a dramatic moment. 
The excitement became intense. Iberville advanced 
steadily, his face calm except for his sparkling eyes 
that flashed encouragement to his watchful crew. 



BATTLE OF HUDSON BAY 117 

As soon as the Hampshire got the range, she de- 
livered her broadside; but the guns were discharged 
as the ship rose with the wave so that most of the 
balls flew high and injured the rigging, but some 
struck the hull and the pumps were manned. " Pre- 
pare to board" signalled Iberville, and the men of 
the Pelican crouched low behind the bulwarks, each 
jealously calculating his chance to be the first on 
the enemy's ship. As the vessels rapidly approached 
each other, the captain of the Hampshire took alarm 
at the situation, and fearing he would be overcome 
in single contest, swung his sails and avoided the en- 
counter. Iberville lost not an instant, but directed 
his ship between the other two hostile vessels. In 
passing he delivered a thundering broadside at the 
Bering with his starboard battery and sent his port 
broadside into the Hudson s Bay. Then he followed 
after the Hampshire, which, seeing him engaged with 
her consorts, had returned to the fray. The Bering 
and the Hudson s Bay were badly crippled, the 
rigging cut, the sails full of holes, the cannon over- 
turned, and the wounded numerous. 

Meanwhile Iberville, seeing his fate accomplished 
if the three got together, drove straight down on 
the Hampshire. The English fleet in battle line 
was now firing broadside after broadside. The 
Pelican was badly crippled, but none of her company 
so far had been injured. The Hampshire, seeing 
the futility of the cannon fire, at length decided 



118 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

to board, but reserved her broadside for close range. 
"With rare skill Iberville had at all times kept the 
weather gauge, and the Hampshire, failing to get 
to the windward, now returned full speed upon the 
Pelican, which was imitating every manoeuvre. The 
vessels finally came side to side. The crisis had 
come. When they were within pistol shot of each 
other and rapidly drifting closer, the Hampshire fired 
her broadside, which again went high. The ships 
now swung together, yard arm to yard arm, before 
Iberville replied. He aimed his guns low to hull his 
antagonist, and so successfully that the vessel sailed 
only a few fathoms and then went down with all 
on board, her sails still spread and her flags flutter- 
ing in the wind. 

This disaster was as swift and unexpected as its 
effect upon the English was decisive. Stunned by 
the grewsome tragedy, they thought no more of re- 
sistance, and for some minutes the other ships lurched 
about on the weltering sea in apparent stupefaction. 
The Bering, recovering herself first, fired a broadside 
and fled, but the Hudson's Bay, being too badly 
crippled to flee, hauled down her flag. An officer 
and twenty-five men took possession. The battle 
had continued for three and one-half hours. It had 
been conclusive, and on board the Pelican there was 
but one dead and only seventeen wounded. The 
ship, however, was so badly cut up that the pursuit 
of the Bering failed. New perils now threatened the 



BATTLE OF HUDSON BAY 119 

ship. Although it was early in September, the 
cold was intense, and during the battle clouds had 
gathered thickly; a great storm arose which soon 
became- a terrific blizzard. The ship encased in 
snow and ice staggered heavily before the gale. 
The desolation among the sick and wounded was fear- 
ful. Wilder and wilder raged the tempest, and about 
seven o'clock the rudder was swept away. To avoid 
being driven ashore the anchor was dropped, but the 
cable parted like thread. Then the ship was hurled 
against a sand bar, where, battered by the great 
seas she could not resist, her seams opened, and by 
morning she began to sink. The shore could be seen 
a few miles away, and Iberville, composed and re- 
sourceful, determined to abandon the vessel. Since 
most of the boats had been shot away, he made 
rafts of the spars and wrecked masts, and putting 
the wounded on board they were paddled and 
pushed to shore by the others, partly swimming 
and partly wading. The cold was so extreme that 
of the two hundred who made the passage to shore, 
eighteen perished from exposure. For twelve hours 
they had battled with the English and the ele- 
ments without pause for food or desire to eat. Their 
exhaustion was complete. Some who reached shore 
barely alive had to be dragged by their stronger 
companions into such shelter as could be had. Great 
fires were built and, though lightly clad, the men 
were much relieved. Food, however, was lacking, 



120 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

but with wise forethought Iberville had saved his 
powder and now sent out the best hunters for game. 
The ground was covered deep with snow and the men 
were not successful. 

The landing had been made about two leagues 
from the fort, and this spot affording apparently 
a brief respite from death was named Camp de Grace. 
Being unable to guard the prisoners, seventeen of 
those taken on the Hudson s Bay escaped to the fort, 
and the French constantly expected the warm and 
well-fed English would descend upon them in the 
midst of their other misfortunes and utterly destroy 
them. As their sufferings became more acute, it was 
determined to risk all in one last assault upon the fort 
rather than perish in the snow and ice. The camp 
was moved across an intervening marsh to a point 
about half a league from the post. This marsh, says 
La Potherie, was so difficult that "horses could not 
drag themselves through it." 

In this emergency Iberville's star shone forth 
brightly, and the rest of the squadron now appeared 
bringing food, clothing, and munitions of war. Amid 
general rejoicing the camp was again moved up to 
within cannon-shot of the fort and named Camp 
Bourbon. The men were landed from the ships and 
a summons sent to the English. With full knowledge 
of the desperate condition of the French, the garrison 
cherished the hope that Iberville especially had per- 
ished. So when his messenger was led into the fort 



BATTLE OF HUDSON BAT 121 

with bandaged eyes to bring the summons, one of the 
Governor's staff counselled delay, at any rate until it 
could be learned definitely whether the Commander 
had been lost. Upon this advice the Governor re- 
fused to capitulate. The batteries were then erected 
about two hundred yards from the fort, mortars and 
bombs were brought up, and the bombardment began. 
As the ramparts were broken down by the shells, the 
Canadians gave the shrill " Sassa Koues " of the Iro- 
quois and dashed forward until repulsed by the Eng- 
lish musketry. Fort Nelson, manned and ruled by 
servants of the Company, was a palisaded fort and 
furnished but slight protection against cannon. A 
new battery was begun on the undefended northern 
side, and the French were hacking at the palisades 
in true Indian fashion when a flag of truce appeared. 
Bailey, more courageous or better supported than 
Sargeant at Albany, had been summoned three times, 
but he did not surrender until he got honorable 
terms. The garrison then capitulated and was per- 
mitted to march out with honors of war. 

In this brief campaign Iberville had conquered 
the English fleet, mastered the English fort, and 
triumphed over Nature herself in fierce conflict. 
He had gained a well-earned renown which even 
the English acknowledged, although, in a quaint 
effort at mystification, Oldmixon, referring to this 
contest, dismisses it as follows: "The Hampshire 
frigate and Owner's Love, a fire ship, two of the 



122 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

King's ships, were lost in this Bay [Hudson] and 
all the men drowned. Indeed, the ice renders it so 
dangerous that commerce seems not to be worth the 
risk run for it. Whether those two ships ran against 
the frozen mountains that float in that sea or 
foundered is not known, but it is certain they were 
lost and that all the men perished." 

The campaign had made the French complete 
masters of the Bay with all its vast wealth. The 
savages came in throngs to trade. Serigny was 
given command of the post, which office he retained 
until the following year, when he turned the forts 
over to his cousin Martigny and sailed for France. 
The appearances would indicate that finally the Bay 
had become permanently and positively French, but 
this too was an illusion. While Iberville was batter- 
ing at the walls of Nelson, the French and English 
commissioners had concluded the Peace of Ryswick, 
September 20, 1697, according to the terms of which 
Fort Albany would revert to the Hudson's Bay 
Company in the restoration of the status quo. While 
this was the only fort they retained, it nevertheless 
gave them their foothold on the Bay, a position 
which they did not hesitate to improve. This situa- 
tion, on the whole so unfortunate for the English 
company, was maintained with more or less success 
until fifteen years later, when the Peace of Utrecht 
restored the entire region to England, and the 
Hudson's Bay Company, which had held grimly to 



BATTLE OF HUDSON BAY 123 

its precarious position throughout the entire period, 
then reaped an abundant reward. As an indica- 
tion of the value of the prize for which the rivals 
were contending, it is well to state that during 
this period of raid and warfare the English, while 
suffering heavily, were enabled nevertheless to pay 
dividends of fifty per cent on the capital stock of 
the Company in 1688 and 1689 and twenty-five per 
cent in 1690 on stock that had been trebled. 

It was now September 24, 1697, and, though late 
in the season, Iberville took the Profond, manned 
by the crew of the sunken Pelican and many of 
the prisoners, and left for France. The sun getting 
closer and closer to the horizon made observations 
difficult, while the growing darkness impeded navi- 
gation. Scurvy, the disease of sloth and uncleanli- 
ness, the scourge of the seas and especially of the 
Arctic region, became epidemic, and many died. 
After passing the Straits the ship made good prog- 
ress, and on November 23 Iberville sailed into 
the harbor of Rochelle and made official report to 
the great Pontchartrain, worthy successor of Colbert, 
who was now to be induced to consider the idea 
of territorial expansion along lines suggested by 
La Salle, Iberville, and others. These northern con- 
flicts, to be sure, were but " episodes " ; as Parkman 
says, " In Hudson Bay, Newfoundland, and Acadia, 
the issues of the war were unimportant compared 
with whether France or England should be mistress 



124 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

of the West, that is, the whole interior of the 
Continent." 

The English colonies were rooted in the soil of 
the Atlantic seaboard, and living by trade and 
agriculture they felt no impulse and found little 
or no reason for plunging into the forests beyond the 
Alleghanies, besides which they were disunited and 
jealous of one another and of the Crown, and they 
could not be guided toward a world policy for which 
they felt no need. 

In Canada, however, the people lived by the fur 
trade, and their character was developed in con- 
formity with the adventurous and roving life which 
this pursuit demanded, while the control of the 
home Government was such that the entire colony 
could be mobilized in a moment for any particular 
purpose. The English colonies grew by slow ex- 
tension, rooting firmly as they spread, while the 
other sent long offshoots with few or no roots far 
out into the wilderness. The fundamental difference 
between the colonies is well illustrated by the fare- 
well speech of Duquesne to the Iroquois on his 
retirement from office, in which he says : " Go, see 
the forts our King has planted, and you will see 
that you can still hunt under their very walls ; they 
are placed for your advantage in the places you 
frequent. The English, on the contrary, are no 
sooner in possession of a place than the game is 
driven away. The forest falls as they advance, and 



BATTLE OF HUDSON BAY 125 

the soil is laid bare so that you scarce can find 
shelter for the night." 

The great French scheme of territorial expansion 
was not born at Court, but on Canadian soil, and 
in the minds of those colonial leaders, like Iberville, 
who saw the vast possibilities of the situation and 
generally had a personal interest in realizing them. 
The idea of territorial aggrandizement by coloni- 
zation recurred more and more frequently to the 
active brain of Iberville, during the next few months, 
but the germ had been planted during those early 
adventurous days on Hudson Bay, those days of toil 
and hardship and concentrated effort. 

Thus Iberville, the indefatigable, with an unin- 
terrupted series of victories behind him, doubtless 
made many plans for the future as he winged his 
way to France. Larger and larger his horizon 
had grown; more and more often he had taken 
his prizes and his rapidly increasing fame to France 
and the King instead of to Quebec and the Governor. 
Now at the age of thirty-six the young Canadian had 
become the most skilful and one of the most promi- 
nent commanders in the Royal Navy. "Norman 
ancestry had struggled against his Canadian instincts 
and training, but the Norman won and he cast his 
lot with the King's ships." He had swept Hudson 
Bay free of the enemy, and for ten years he had 
despoiled the English traders with never flagging 
zeal and caused them a total loss, as they admit, 



126 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

of £190,000. He had turned all this booty into 
the little needy colonies on the St. Lawrence, he 
had safeguarded the northern frontiers of New 
France for many years to come, he had given his 
country a magnificent pawn to play in the political 
game at Ryswick, and he had demonstrated the able 
and brilliant qualities of his leadership. Whether 
spurred by ambition, or by love of adventure, or 
by the hope of the abundant booty which he ob- 
tained, his career had been one of constant success 
against the enemies of his country. "Episodes" 
they doubtless were, yet they serve even better 
than larger and more confusing dramas to exhibit 
the fortitude and dauntless resolution of the princi- 
pal actor therein, as step by step he advances in 
the execution of his life-long purpose to abase the 
English. His character and ambitions became crys- 
tallized. He personified at this time in the highest 
degree the antagonism of New France toward the 
English, their methods and their apparent destiny. 
What the French colonists vaguely felt, he not 
only felt but appreciated mentally ; what the French 
Government and the Governors of New France, 
save only Frontenac, did not perceive, he had 
analyzed, and with his high intelligence recognized 
the remedy which possibly he alone could apply. 

Whatever he may have thought and planned in 
his teeming brain, it probably did not occur to him 
that he was leaving his beloved Canada forever, 



BATTLE OF HUDSON BAY 127 

that his white sails when spread again would take 
him to another part of the great new continent 
and bring him new fame, new honor, and an early 
death in a remote portion of that realm to which 
he consecrated his life in a fruitless effort to affix 
it permanently to the Crown of France. Yet it 
so happened. Almost on the anniversary of his 
arrival at Rochelle, Frontenac died (November 22, 
1698), and this event together with the Peace of 
Ryswick seemed to diminish his chance of acquiring 
more honor in Canada, where indeed he was idolized 
not less for the gallantry of his exploits against 
the English than for the commercial prosperity 
that followed them. He now tendered his services 
to Pontchartrain and requested a much sought for 
assignment. Long toil and endurance had calmed 
the adventurous enthusiasm of his youth into a 
steadfast earnestness of purpose. His extraordinary 
career of dash, daring, and adventure now merged 
in his maturer years into the expansive and elabo- 
rately constructive designs of the statesman. 



CHAPTER VIII 
LOUISIANA AND THE MISSISSIPPI 

AMONG the heights of the Mesaba Mountains in 
northern Minnesota lies a spot upon which 
one can place one arm of a pair of compasses 
and with the other extended to a radius of fifty miles 
can draw a circle which will include the watersheds 
of three of the largest and most important river- 
basins of North America. In this little area rise the 
rivers leading to Hudson Bay, the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence, and the Gulf of Mexico. From the lower 
St. Lawrence, always distinctively French, the ener- 
getic Du Luth * followed up that great highway 
through the Great Lakes and planted posts at De- 
troit, Thunder Bay in Lake Superior, and Lake 
Nepigon. La Salle stretched out from Fort Fron- 
tenac to Mackinac Island and Green Bay, and 
attached the Sacs, Foxes, and the Mascoutins to the 
other faithful allies, then passing down to the foot 

* Daniel Greysolon Du Luth, " kiug of the coureurs de bois," had 
been an officer in the French army. Coming to Canada before 1674, 
he set out four years later on an expedition to the Sioux country and 
remained in the Northwest over twelve years, exploring, trading, and 
•winning the Indians to France. In 1699 he was commandant at Fort 
Froutenac, and died in 1710. 



LOUISIANA AND THE MISSISSIPPI 129 

of Lake Michigan to the St. Joseph and Chicago 
portages, he secured the Miamis, which, with the 
Illinois tribe obtained with the assistance of Henri 
de Tonty, brought the entire St. Lawrence basin 
under the wing of France. 

It has been shown how the incessant activity of 
Iberville had brought Hudson Bay and all its 
tributaries into French control, although the Eng- 
lish Company still held by a hair to those precari- 
ous claims which the treaties of Ryswick and 
Utrecht were destined to confirm and enlarge. Two 
vast basins were already secured. The great design 
of hemming in the English colonies grew apace. 
The struggle for the enormous wealth of the river 
valleys was fairly inaugurated. The third and 
greatest was the Mississippi. This was discovered 
by De Soto in 1541, and its turbid flood became 
the midnight grave of the great Spaniard. His 
frightened followers, reduced to one-half the original 
number, then fled in their frail brigantines down its 
channel, running the gantlet of hostile tribes from 
a wilderness that promised only misery and death. 
From its mouth they sailed westward along the shore 
of the Gulf until they found a welcome haven at 
Panuco River in the little Spanish settlement of 
New Spain, where Tampico now stands. They 
brought back such stories of hardships and disaster, 
of Indian opposition and of starvation, that the dis- 
covery remained not only unutilized but more and 



130 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

more obscure with every passing year of the 
subsequent century. 

On the early Spanish maps the Great River is 
indistinguishable from the other affluents of the 
Gulf. Even its existence was doubted by many, 
while its course and mouth were absolutely un- 
known. Rumors, however, of the great river in the 
Sioux country came ever more frequently to the ears 
of the French Jesuits, as between the years 1641 
and 1658 they extended their pilgrimages farther 
and farther into the interior, so that gradually there 
developed a strong curiosity to know more of this 
"Hidden River" and the regions through which it 
took its mysterious flow. Whither did it lead those 
fabulous waters? Was its mouth in China, Japan, 
or Mexico, in the South Sea or the Sea of Virginia ? 
One hundred and thirty years after De Soto the 
upper waters were again revealed to Joliet and to 
the fragile but devoted Jesuit Marquette when one 
morning in June, while " the mist hung on the Wis- 
consin River like a bridal veil and slowly melted in 
the sun," they pushed their bark canoes through its 
wide mouth into the whirling eddies of the Missis- 
sippi (1673). 

Then came the great La Salle, and before 1684 the 
Father of Waters was newly explored. French forts 
were planted upon two of its large tributaries, the 
Ohio and the Illinois, its course determined, and its 
waters followed to their ultimate discharge in the Gulf 




PoKTiox oi- Db Lisli;\s Map, 1700 

Shows („1 the St-- ^^^'S'""' "' possession 0/ Cliicgo JiMoiical Xoiiel!,) 

Bayr(.,^L'IuV„°„"rfL™iott^trr''^ l>y the English ; M>) French nan,es of forts of Hudson's Bay Company „n Hndson 

(^) chief points of Iter to U e New V" f""'""' '' "' "" ™"' ' °' '""""^ '™"' ^""'^''^l '" ""^^''■' ^^^ "^ I""'^ ^•"«i''i ^ 
mouthof theMississinnfp;! " '^^ '^•™Pa'gn; (/) loc. "!on of Femaquid and Acadian settlements; (,/) the 
Mississippi R„ er according to Iberville's explo. 'ation ; (A) Florida as claimed hy the Spanish " 



mimxc rr'iiV^-n- 



LOUISIANA AND THE MISSISSIPPI 131 

of Mexico. La Salle had carefully taken the latitude 
of the mouth with his astrolabe ; but at that time 
instruments did not exist for the accurate deter- 
mination of longitude, and such means as they had 
could not be easily transported. This calculation 
would have made his final journey a triumph and 
preserved his life. Leaving Henri de Tonty to main- 
tain Fort St. Louis on the Illinois River * and Fort 
Prudhomme on the Mississippi,! La Salle returned to 
Canada from the Gulf by way of the Great Lakes, 
and projected the scheme of locating the mouth of 
the Mississippi by the sea route. He recognized that 
by judiciously placing colonies along the course of the 
river this immense basin also could be added to the 
others as a jewel in the Crown of France. This was 
the object of that final voyage when he missed the 
long arm of the Delta by sailing too far west and 
then entered and established a post upon St. Louis 
Bay (Matagorda Bay). From this point he began 
that fruitless quest that led to his premature and dis- 
tressing end on the plains of Texas on March 19, 
1687. His death left the location of the mouth of 
the Mississippi undecided and in a state of obscurity 
which the fictitious narrative of Father Hennepin 
only increased. 

* At Starved Rock, near Utica, 111., where a band of the lUini took 
refuge and were starved to death while besieged by their enemies the 
Potto wattomies. 

t Fort Prudhomme was located near the present village of Tipton- 
ville, Tennessee. 



132 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

The solution of this problem was an exploit worthy 
of the most ambitious, since many were watching 
with anxious eyes for another glimpse of that clear 
white light which La Salle for an instant only had 
flashed upon the expectant world. The map-makers 
and geographers with scientific problems to settle 
paused, compass in hand, impatient to fill the great 
gaps of the unknown on their charts. The friends 
of La Salle were eager for such reports as would vin- 
dicate his name and enable them to defend him from 
the attacks of his enemies, who in turn were also 
waiting to destroy if possible even his memory. 
Besides these who waited with unconcealed yearn- 
ings, there were military and trading adventurers of 
all nationalities who were watching with rapacious 
hands for the information that would further their 
personal and usually venal ambitions. 

Above all sat the triad of hostile Governments 
striving for possession of Colonial America. On the 
one side was grim, suspicious Spain, silent and secre- 
tive, steel-clad master of Mexico, deeply distrustful of 
France and jealously watching the domain she could 
not occupy. In her Colonial Bureau headed by the 
Junta she was hiding her movements with the utmost 
stealth behind the shadow of her former grandeur. 

On the other was alert, thick-skinned England, 
never blind to commercial advantages nor sensitive 
to the rights of priority in others. She acknowl- 
edged her interests to be entirely financial, and dif- 



LOUISIANA AND THE MISSISSIPPI 133 

fered from the others who had the same aims only 
in her brutal frankness and her willingness to con- 
cede a fact which excessive vanity and inordinate 
conceit inspired the Latins to call by another name. 
William of Orange, emaciated and asthmatic, dying 
but inflexible, had also to serve the interests of his 
disbanded army and the expatriated Huguenots, but 
was ready at all times to throw himself headlong 
across the path of France. 

France, with grandiloquent claims to everything 
everywhere, was still ruled by Louis XIV, who, 
whatever other deficiencies he possessed, certainly 
never overlooked a French pretension.* In the case 
of Louisiana, however, France could present no 
better title than might be derived from the voyage 
of Verrazzano and the vague traditions of Breton 
adventurers. Each furtively watched the other, but 
none made the eventful decision which would ulti- 
mately solve the problem. 

France was aroused first through the associated 
enthusiasms of Vauban, Pontchartrain, and Iberville. 
La Salle had made his reports to Seignlay, the Min- 
ister of Marine, who in turn had relinquished his 
oflSce to Louis Pontchartrain, hardly a worthy suc- 
cessor to the great colony-maker, Colbert. Young 
Jerome Pontchartrain was assisting his father. He 
was a pupil of Vauban, f carefully educated travelled, 

* Vide King's " Iberville on the Mississippi." 

■f Renowned as military engineer and Marshal of France. 



134 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

and trained for a ministerial career. He had de- 
veloped large views regarding colonial interests of 
France and clear, honest ones of his own. He could 
at least appreciate the great possibilities of the New 
"World as presented by La Salle and Iberville, even 
if he was not entirely converted to their far-sighted 
projects. He is described as a cool, cautious, clear- 
headed man who took no chances, nor gave any, 
when playing for success. He was a passionate 
reader and passionate admirer of all heroic adven- 
tures on the high seas and in the unknown wilder- 
ness from which he was personally debarred by his 
feeble physique. Such a man might feel a warm 
sympathy and admiration for the gallant figure of 
Iberville, and it was to him that this intrepid com- 
mander repaired to make his report and to apply 
for this much desired quest when on the high tide 
of his prosperous career he sailed his ship into the 
harbor of Rochelle. 

It was during Iberville's first incursion upon the 
English on Hudson Bay that La Salle had perished 
by the hand of an assassin, and during the next 
ten years, while Iberville was sweeping the Eng- 
lish crumbs from the French tapestry which he 
was weaving in the Arctic regions, the project of 
La Salle for planting a fort at the mouth of the 

Mississippi had slept in the minds of the ministers. 
« 

" The young Le Moynes felt that, with the death of 
Frontenac and the Peace of Ryswick, the days of romance 



LOUISIANA AND THE MISSISSIPPI 135 

and adventure had ended in Canada ; that for the time be- 
ing at least diplomacy was to succeed daring, and thoughts 
of trade were to take the place of plans for the capture of 
New York and Boston. To them the possibility of col- 
lision with the Spanish or English was an inducement 
rather than a drawback. Here perhaps in the exploration 
on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, courage and audacity 
might find those rewards and honors for which the op- 
portunity was fast disappearing in Canada." * 

With such alluring possibilities Iberville felt that 
he too could easily leave barren, frozen Canada and 
lead France and civilization into the valley of the 
Mississippi. Moreover he fully believed that in this 
way, and this way only, the slow, ponderous, but 
inevitable march of the English could be checked. 
He would out-manceuvre them and establish a line of 
posts in their rear. In addition he greatly desired 
the new assignment for personal reasons, since, as 
he wrote the King, he was "tired of conquering 
the Bay of Hudson." 

Animated by such sentiments and supported by 
his strong personality, the enthusiasm of Iberville 
attracted the attention and overcame the reserve of 
the King, whose imagination also was captivated 
by the grandeur of the scheme which the young 
conqueror put before him in glowing colors. France 
had anticipated the English in possession of the 
upper waters of the river, and if she could establish 

* Winsor. 



136 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

herself at the mouth she could control the entire 
valley. The idea of mines, as valuable as those of 
Spain in Mexico, also whetted the greed of the 
King and awakened the needy Cabinet to the point 
of action. Louvigny, Tonty, Manthet and Remon- 
ville each had sought this command, but none had 
the qualities to compel a decision. Captain of 
Frigates since 1691, Iberville possessed in the high- 
est degree the confidence of the Minister, who recog- 
nized his devotion and energy and who was in 
search of one who combined the skill of a navigator 
with the spirit and courage of a warrior. As no 
one else so fully answered the requirements, Iber- 
ville was now charged to undertake and finish the 
interrupted plans of La Salle. At first the King 
had no intention of colonizing at the mouth of the 
river, as a letter of Pontchar train's shows, and much 
less did he purpose to plant colonies along its course, 
but desired only to complete the discovery and by 
building a fort to prevent the English from taking 
possession. For aside from the drain on the treasury, 
already exhausted by his European wars and the 
building of Versailles, the opposition of the King to 
settlements in the interior was due to the feeling 
that it removed them too far from his paternal 
control. 

Iberville took his new responsibility with his 
habitual earnestness and resolution. His prepara- 
tions were begun at once and continued as actively 



LOUISIANA AND THE MISSISSIPPI 137 

as thoroughness would permit. The world was 
scoured to secure every map that could in any way 
aid the navigation, and all pamphlets, "relations," 
and books of voyages that concerned that region were 
speedily collected. His library in this respect might 
have been very complete, but it was not large. 
There was Zenobe Membre's account of the La Salle 
expedition to be found in Le Clerc's " Etablissement 
de la Foi," Hennepin's plagiarism of the same, and a 
" Relation " said to be by Tonty, which he personally 
disowned to Iberville later. Marquette's Relation 
and also Hennepin's, alas ! were among the first he 
obtained. Joutel, the companion of La Salle and 
the historian of his last expedition, surfeited with 
its hardships, declined to join Iberville, but sent in- 
stead the journal of his journey with La Salle, 
including also that of his return to Canada by way 
of the Illinois River and the Great Lakes. This was 
very detailed and for the regions covered could well 
serve as a guide. Iberville recalled too a conver- 
sation with La Salle wherein the explorer had told 
him that while there was a good depth of water at 
the mouth of the Mississippi, the current was whit- 
ish, claylike in color, and carried much debris. As 
an additional precaution he endeavored as far as 
possible to enlist the men who had sailed in those 
waters, and chose his officers too with the utmost 
care. His first and most fortunate choice was his 
young brother Le Moyne de Bienville, destined to 



138 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

be his most valuable aid and the main reliance of 
the new colony for forty years. 

Having considered the expedition in its many 
aspects, Iberville in a letter to the Minister explained 
his plan of operation in detail. From what he had 
learned he thought the Mississippi ran through 
Louisiana, the name given to that portion of the 
country watered by the Mississippi below the mouth 
of the Illinois, that territory which La Salle had 
added to the Crown seventeen years before, and, if 
that was so, it would be highly important to plant 
a colony on the river, as all that country was of 
extreme value. On the voyage he purposed to stop 
at San Domingo for four or five days for water and 
supplies and to secure such additional information 
as might be had. Here too he would leave his 
sick, if any, and sailing thence he intended to ex- 
plore the country west of the Florida Cape and 
especially the rivers as far as the Bay St. Esprit 
(Mobile), where he would rendezvous the vessels. 
From this point, which is only one hundred leagues 
from the Bay of St. Louis (Matagorda) where La 
Salle made his colony, he would enter and explore 
all rivers entering the Gulf. He intended also to 
send an expedition to search for news of La Salle's 
Frenchmen, and if any could be found they would 
have learned the Indian language, and by attaching 
them to the expedition they could help in finding 
the river. He also projected a settlement for Bay 



LOUISIANA AND THE MISSISSIPPI 139 

St. Louis if he found that more beautiful and 
advantageous than St. Esprit. From this latter 
place he intended to send back such ships as he 
did not need, and since many things occur on 
such a voyage that cannot be foreseen he wished 
his hands to be free and he therefore asked for 
"general orders.'* 

Again, on June 18, 1698, he wrote Pontchartrain 
that he had advices from London which informed 
him that the English were preparing to establish 
a trading post on the Mississippi, and he suggested 
a corvette mounting eight or ten guns to defend his 
discoveries. He stated that if he met the English 
in those waters he would try to turn them aside 
or capture them, for knowing them as he did he had 
no doubt they would dispute the territory. 

The Minister in his final instructions, after compli- 
ments on his previous career and expressions of 
confidence, directed Iberville to find the mouth 
of the river, to choose a place for a colony well 
situated for defence, and to take soundings along 
the coast and make charts of the same. Should he 
meet with vessels of other nations, it would be his 
duty to oblige them to retire from his waters. He 
was also informed that Chasteaumorant would be 
detailed to accompany him as guard with an 
additional ship. 

From the eager correspondence of the time is 
revealed much of the intense interest which Pont- 



140 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

chartrain and Begon, the Iiitendant at E-ochefort, 
took in the arrangements which Iberville was mak- 
ing, as well as the latter's great enthusiasm. But 
all these preparations were not made without opposi- 
tion, and while Iberville had conducted his affairs 
as secretly * as possible for political reasons, yet there 
were many who for the same reason became in- 
formed. Among them was Beaujeu,t the man who 
commanded the ships of La Salle's expedition and 
who was a source of constant annoyance, distrust, 
and anxiety to La Salle. From La Salle this med- 
dlesome hostility was now transferred to Iberville 
by Beaujeu, who, jealous of the entire expedition, 
opposed with particular bitterness the idea of coloni- 
zation. Beaujeu was an irritable old veteran whose 
pride had been hurt that he should be made to serve 
under La Salle. Besides differences in temperament, 
social distinctions, and mental irreconcilability. La 
Salle was suspicious of the influence of Beaujeu' s 
wife, who was warmly devoted to the Jesuits. Lack- 

* While outfitting the Marin and Badine, Iberville let it be 
understood that the expedition was directed toward the Amazon 
River. 

t Count de Beaujeu, who bears much of the blame for La Salle's 
disaster, was a naval officer of distinction. At the battle of La 
Hague he commanded the St. Louis, which carried Marshal Count de 
Tourville. His nephew commanded the French force which defeated 
Braddock. Joutel and Cavalier both attribute the ruin of La Salle's 
hopes to the perverse management of the ships under the command of 
Beaujeu. When Iberville returned from his successful quest for the 
mouth of the Mississippi, Beaujeu was so vexed that he refused to 
meet him. 



LOUISIANA AND THE MISSISSIPPI 141 

ing the tact of Iberville in his relations with Brouillon, 
La Salle endeavored to beat down opposition by sheer 
force. Quarrel succeeded quarrel and temperament 
rasped temperament, until nothing could be done by 
either that was not an annoyance to the other, and 
each more than suspected that the other was crazy. 
La Salle, frail and ill, the conscious bearer of a great 
message which he alone saw, could with difficulty 
support the irritating presence of Beaujeu while the 
latter in turn made his presence as vexatious as 
possible. Throughout the journey he was irascible, 
captious, and insubordinate, besides which his judg- 
ment was much influenced by the prevailing dread 
of Spain, and in his letters to the Minister Beaujeu 
shows constant apprehension of the Spaniards and 
their preponderating force in the waters of the 
Caribbean Sea. Spain to him seemed to be a kind 
of demon, horribly malevolent but withal most saga- 
cious and powerful. Joutel's narrative states that 
before reaching Matagorda a discussion arose about 
the position of the ships, and La Salle ordered 
Beaujeu to sail back eastward and search for the 
mouth of the Mississippi, which the latter refused 
to do. It was also believed that he intentionally 
ran the store ship Aimahle on a reef at the mouth of 
the bay and wrecked her. Upon leaving La Salle 
Beaujeu told him that he should coast along the 
northern shore of the Gulf until he reached Bay 
St. Esprit (Mobile), and would wait there until 



142 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

April ; but after breasting the adverse winds for two 
days he changed his mind and sailed direct to Cuba. 
Such was the man who now with envy and jealousy 
opposed the designs of Iberville, while that com- 
mander was working night and day to prepare his 
ships and load them for the voyage. 



CHAPTER IX 

PENSACOLA 

IT was intended to be not only a voyage of dis- 
covery but also a colonizing expedition, not 
only to locate definitely the mouth of the Mis- 
sissippi but in case others were found in possession 
forcibly to drive them away. The preparations must 
therefore be varied to meet any emergency. The 
ships not only carried munitions of war, but sheep, 
pigs, cattle, and poultry for the colony; not only 
soldiers for battle, but hunters and artisans for the 
settlement, and all must be fed on shipboard. In 
addition to the usual crews and the soldiers, as many 
as possible of the Canadians were enlisted as super- 
numeraries. Besides the material for war and for 
the colony, the usual specialties for the Indian trade, 
such as kettles, hatchets, knives, beads, mirrors, etc., 
were taken aboard. No emergency could be foreseen 
that Iberville did not make careful preparation to 
meet. Impatient as he was to be gone and frequently 
urged thereto by the more impatient Minister, the 
Commander refused to be hurried into action until all 
the preliminaries of the voyage were properly adjusted. 
The arrangements were finally completed, and 
leaving Rochelle on September 5, Iberville went 



144 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

to Brest, from which he sailed on October 24, 1698, 
with two small frigates, the Badine, thirty guns, and 
the Marin, thirty guns, together with two transports, 
or traversiers, heavily laden with additional supplies 
and the stores for six months. The Badine he 
commanded himself, while the Marin was in charge 
of Sieur de Surgeres, an officer in whom he re- 
posed great confidence. They followed as nearly 
as possible the route of Columbus by way of the Ma- 
deiras, and after a stormy voyage in which one of the 
transports disappeared, they arrived at San Domingo 
in a little less than six weeks. Some days later the 
missing transport also reached port uninjured. Here 
too they were met by Chasteaumorant, a nephew of 
the great Tourville, who was to accompany the ex- 
pedition with his frigate, the Francois, of fifty guns. 
During the short delay in this port the crew suffered 
much from the change of diet and from the deadly 
tropical fevers which seemed especially to affect the 
Canadians. Some died and many sick had to be left 
behind. Fortunately Iberville was able to replace 
his men with filibusters, to whom as a class he was 
very partial. 

He spent the major portion of his stay in San 
Domingo trying to secure more certain or at least 
additional information of the Gulf of Mexico and 
especially of the river. The Spaniards with whom 
he talked represented the Gulf as a perfect hell on 
account of the sudden squalls, but they professed 



PENSACOLA 145 

entire ignorance regarding any river. The country 
was entirely unknown. However, he obtained here 
a chart from M. de Brach, head of the colony, 
which was much better than the Spanish chart 
furnished by the Minister. Fortunately, too, he 
secured at this port the services of Laurent de Graff, 
one of the last of the famous buccaneers of the 
seventeenth century, formerly an associate of Morgan 
and now the captain of a light frigate. This man 
knew all the coast and currents as far as the 
entrance to the Gulf thoroughly. He had also 
been to Vera Cruz at a time when he was one of 
the leaders of an expedition that had captured 
that city and exacted a heavy ransom. While he 
had never explored the northern shore of the Gulf 
he once had employed a Spanish pilot who had 
told him about a beautiful harbor fifty or sixty 
leagues from Apalachicola, where the Spanish went 
for masts when necessary and where the Governor 
had given orders that other nations should not 
be allowed to establish themselves, but the latitude 
and longitude of this place he had forgotten. Ac- 
cording to his calculations this harbor ought to 
be almost due north of the place where the fleet 
entered the Gulf. Iberville resolved to explore 
this region thoroughly, and in any case, as he assured 
the Minister in a letter from San Domingo, he would 
find the mouth and ascend the river in boats and canoes 
with thirty or forty men as far as seemed best. 

10 



146 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

The casks were now refilled with water, the flour 
made up into biscuits, the longboats unpacked and 
mounted, the sails repaired, and the ships carefully 
overhauled. Soon it was necessary to terminate 
quickly all these preparations, for, having heard that 
four English men-of-war had been reported at San 
Domingo sailing west on a colonizing expedition, 
the Commander concluded they were bound for 
the Mississippi and hastened his departure. Leaving 
San Domingo on January 1, 1699, the fleet made sail 
along the southern coast of Cuba, rounded Cape 
St. Antoine, entered the Gulf, and laid the ships 
on their course with the intent of striking that 
fine harbor of which De Graff had spoken. Accord^ 
ing to their calculations this harbor should be 
found on the coast almost due north of the point 
where the ships entered the Gulf. Nothing un- 
usual was observed until January 23, when in the 
afternoon land was sighted. Iberville signalled the 
squadron to crowd on all sail until sunset, where- 
upon they came so close to the coast that the red 
glare of burning prairies could be seen, and the 
next day the long shore line of northern Florida 
appeared running low and white from east to west. 
They were almost due south of Apalachicola Bay 
and anchored for the night off Cape San Bias. 
The next morning the ships moved slowly along 
to the west, keeping outside in safe water, while 
Lieutenant Lescalette in the longboat crept along 



PENSACOLA 147 

near the shore. The days were spent in careful 
observation of the coast, in scanning river mouths, 
and in taking soundings as they crawled along mile 
after mile. Every night they came to anchor when 
the guns of the Badine gave the signal, and every 
night and morning they cast anxious eyes to the 
shore to see if any Indians had been attracted by 
the firing. This method was slow but very certain, 
and Iberville had no notion of failure through lack 
of personal attentiveness. 

On January 27, 1699, the fleet approached the 
harbor of Santa Maria de Pensacola de Galvez, and 
the longboat came out to the ship with news. Not 
only had a river been discovered and a bay, but also, 
alas, shipping. Iberville was not surprised to learn 
that masts had been seen in the harbor. Having 
in mind the English expedition, it at once occurred 
to him that they had arrived before him. He 
immediately called a council of the officers on board 
the flag-ship. While considering the various aspects 
of the affair, the sun went down in all the magnifi- 
cence of the tropics, and the great gun of the Badine 
gave the evening salute to the flag and the signal 
to anchor. The report had hardly died away when 
a menacing boom came from the ships in the harbor, 
sullen, distant, and defiant. Darkness came on and 
with it a dense fog. An unquiet night was spent 
in ignorance of what the day would bring forth. 



CHAPTER X 
THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI 

IIEUTENANT LESCALETTE was sent ashore 
i in the early morning to learn the name and 
nationality of the unwelcome occupants of 
the bay. He took with him Le Moyne de Bienville 
to have charge of the boat, to keep the men from 
talking, and to find out as much as possible himself. 
A white flag was flying from one of the masts in 
the harbor, and a sloop came out far enough to see 
the French flag and fleet and then hastily retired. 
Lescalette landed and was conducted to the Gov- 
ernor of the port, while Bienville, pretending to 
be a subordinate, catechised the loungers at the 
wharf for inofficial information. They learned that 
this was a Spanish settlement numbering about two 
hundred and fifty people which the Spanish had 
made in 1696 (Barcia), but the French were con- 
vinced that the post had been established only four 
months previous to Iberville's visit, and that, too, 
with intent to forestall him after learning of his 



THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI 149 

proposed voyage.* The Governor was Don An- 
dres de la Riola.t and the garrison consisted 
largely of galley slaves who were mostly in irons. 
All were short of food. The frigates in the harbor 
were also Spanish, mounting respectively eighteen 
and twenty guns, and had stopped in to secure new 
masts from the forest surrounding the bay. They 
had thought the French squadron was a Spanish 
expedition long expected from Vera Cruz, and had 
fired their guns in welcome. The French fleet, 
claiming a shortage of water and provisions, desired 
to enter the harbor, but the Spanish forbade this, 
as they said the settlement was new and feeble, but 
offered to send wine and water out to the French. 
Iberville returned this courtesy by sending in some 
food as a propitiatory offering, and then on the 
pretext that he was anxious about his anchorage, 
he took Surgeres and De Graff with him the next 
morning, and they moved in and carefully took 
soundings up to the very sides of the Spanish 
frigates, a proceeding which so alarmed the captain 
that he offered to lend the French a Spanish pilot 
to take them to a safe port farther west. Having 
secured the requisite knowledge of the harbor, the 
French were now easy to satisfy. Chasteaumorant, 
who had assumed the command to disguise the 
object of the expedition, assured the Spaniards that 

* Martin also accepts this view in his " History of North Qarolina." 
I Don Andres de Arriola — Engayo Cronologico. 



150 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

he was only in search of some Canadians who were 
supposed to be among the Indians on those shores, 
and he would continue his quest. He did this 
with the greater reluctance, as he writes the Minister, 
since he recognized that he could have driven out 
or captured the Spanish and seized the harbor with 
the utmost ease. However, the cat had played 
with the mouse while thoughtfully analyzing his 
appetite, and now concluded to let it escape, and, 
to the great relief of the Spaniards, the French fleet 
took its slow departure. Moving cautiously along 
the coast and examining attentively every inlet, the 
fleet arrived in two days at the bar off Mobile Point 
which guards the entrance of Mobile Bay. The 
Spanish pilot whom Don Andres had sent proved 
to have an excellent and valuable knowledge of 
the coast so far as concerned the soundings and 
harbors. 

A south wind now sprang up, the storm wind of 
the Gulf, and no soundings were possible. Squalls 
and gales, thunder and lightning with torrents of 
rain, came in tropical abundance from the dark, 
lowering clouds, while the violent seas drove the fleet 
into open water. On the sixth of February the 
weather quieted, and the pass to the Bay was sounded 
and explored as well as some of the islands near the 
entrance. 

Having seen and heard nothing of the English fleet, 
Chasteaumorant delicately suggested that Ws pres- 



THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI 151 

ence was unnecessary, and it was therefore arranged 
that the Frangois should return to San Domingo. 
After several days spent in ceremonial visits and 
mutual expressions of most distinguished considera- 
tion, Chasteaumorant put to sea, and the diplomatic 
Iberville was free from any possibility of that annoy- 
ance and danger which the presence of Beaujeu had 
brought to La Salle. 

The Spanish pilot now seemed filled with forebod- 
ings and uttered dismal prophecies, while at the same 
time the boats sent out to examine the shore and 
islands returned with such contradictory reports that 
Iberville determined to take Bienville and see for 
himself. Again a terrific storm came up just after 
they started, and for three days they were imprisoned 
on a little island to which they had run for shelter. 
This island subsequently became the site of a settle- 
ment and merits some description. It was about 
twelve miles long and one and one-half miles wide, 
and while exploring it they found at the southwest 
end a huge heap of skulls and bones, mute witnesses 
to some fiendish Indian raid, or, as Iberville thought, 
the remains of the ill-fated Spanish expedition of 
Narvaez. From this they called the place Massacre 
Island (now Dauphine Island). Game was very abun- 
dant, and the Canadians made the most of their 
opportunity to secure a supply of fresh meat. As 
soon as the weather had quieted down, Iberville 
crossed over to the mainland and climbed a tree to 



152 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

take a bird's-eye observation of the country, but he 
was rewarded only by a sight of the limitless forest, 
the great Gulf, and the indentations of Mobile Bay. 
No break in the forest revealed the channel of a great 
river cutting its serpentine way to the sea, and no 
embrasure in the coast line marked the exit of a 
mighty stream. Continuing his explorations on foot, 
he found remains of recent Indian encampments, — 
probably some family that had been fishing on the 
Gulf. A short period of fine weather now permitted 
them to finish the soundings of the channel, after 
which they collected grass for the live stock and 
returned to the fleet. 

Sailing on to the west with a light northwest wind 
and serene sky, they entered a maze of islands and 
sandbars ; as soon as one disappeared behind, others 
long and low, white and sandy, appeared ahead, and 
while in the very midst of them the wind veered 
suddenly to the south and the Gulf became a boiling 
caldron. They sought anxiously for shelter, but in 
vain. As they pressed on, other islands appeared, 
mere sandbars, bleak and treeless, one to the south 
and one to the west. They ran to shelter behind the 
former, which in honor of the recent feast-day they 
called Chandeleur Island. The boats were then sent 
out to look for a harbor, and while pursuing this 
quest they sailed toward the little island north of 
Chandeleur Island, and another boat reconnoitred the 
one to the west of that, Landing on this latter, they 



THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI 153 

found it inhabited by many curious cat-like creatures 
which suggested the name Cat Island. Thus they 
made their first acquaintance with that truly Ameri- 
can product, the opossum. 

The other boat meanwhile had made soundings 
north of the other island, and after twenty-four 
hours the party returned with the welcome news that 
a fine anchorage had been discovered, and the next 
day responding to signal the fleet moved slowly in 
and took possession of the harbor of Ship Island. 
While at anchor here, some of the men fished, while 
others watched the clouds of wild fowl that flew with 
hoarse cries over their heads. The appearance of 
camp-fires on the shore now stirred Iberville to in- 
vestigate, for he was very anxious to make friends 
with the Indians. Taking with him in the longboat 
Father Anastasius Douay,* the former companion of 
La Salle, they started, Bienville with two Canadians 
following in a canoe. The distance to shore was 
about twenty miles ; upon landing they found fresh 
tracks in the sand, and Iberville and his men set out 
to follow them, while Bienville and the Canadians 
kept to the water in the canoe. Night fell before the 
fugitives were overtaken.. In the morning they saw 
the Indians lurking about curiously in the distance, 
but they fled when pursued, abandoning camp, pi- 

* Anastasius Douay, Recollect, accompanied the last expedition of 
La Salle, and after the leader's death returned to France with Cavalier 
and Joutel by way of Canada. 



154 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

rogues, and all their possessions. Iberville finally ran 
upon a poor old man so crippled from a wound that 
he could not escape, and him they loaded with 
presents and made to understand they were friends. 
Meanwhile Bienville had pursued a party deep into 
the forest, and whether from fatigue, curiosity, or 
what, a woman lagged a little and was soon over- 
taken. She also was kindly treated, and during the 
night escaped, as the French expected she would, but 
returned on the next day and brought in her men to 
the French camp. They were of the Biloxi tribe 
and knew nothing of the Big River. The calumet 
was smoked and much ceremonial enacted in ar- 
ranging a treaty. Leaving Bienville as a hostage, 
a few of the Indians were taken on board the 
ships and entertained by firing off the cannon and 
by furnishing them with brandy, which they were 
surprised to find remained warm after entering the 
stomach. 

The next day all returned to the mainland, where 
a new delegation had arrived. They were members 
of the tribes of the Bayagoulas and Mougoulachas, 
who lived together on the banks of a large river 
which they called Malbancia. They had come down 
on a hunting expedition when, hearing the cannon, 
they had hurried to the shore to investigate. From 
their description Iberville concluded that the Mal- 
bancia must be the Mississippi. These Indians were 
greatly interested in the canoe of birch bark and 



THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI 155 

inquired if the white men had come down the 
river. Iberville and the chief exchanged presents, 
and the chief received as the final gift a massive 
calumet, or peace pipe, the iron bowl being fash- 
ioned like a ship and flying the fleur-de-lis. After 
many ceremonials and protestations of friendship, 
with much eating, the Indians promised to meet 
the French in four nights, as by that time they 
would have finished their hunting and then they 
would guide them by a short route to their river. 
The signal agreed upon, a huge fire on the beach, 
appeared on the third instead of the fourth evening, 
and upon hurrying to it the French found only one 
poor Indian, who said the others had gone home, 
leaving Iberville again to his own resources. Had 
he been able to get to the river with these people by 
a short route and then descend to the mouth and fix 
its location accurately, all would have been easy; 
but the Mississippi had been hidden too long to yield 
up its secret to so little effort. 

Stimulated rather than discouraged by the many 
difficulties, Iberville took thirty-three men with 
twenty days' supply of food in two feluccas in each 
of which a cannon was mounted, and taking in tow 
two canoes, the quest for the " Hidden River " began. 
The weather was not propitious, but the impatient 
spirit of Iberville drove him on through wind, rain, 
fog, around islands and islets and over sandbars and 
reefs. In spite of a high wind the waves were not 



156 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

troublesome on account of the clustered masses of 
seaward islands. Keeping near the shore, so as to 
miss no inlet or river mouth, they sailed and paddled, 
and dragged the feluccas over the sandbars to the 
music of the breakers dashing against the distant 
islands. The mainland lay close on their right, and 
they spent one night on a protruding point which 
was buried at high tide. The next day the fog and 
mist were so dense they could not advance, but re- 
mained some time on a spot of sand and ooze that 
trembled and shook under them. Afternoon came, 
and with it the heavens broke loose, a terrific thunder 
storm came on that lasted all night, and with equal 
suddenness the wind veered to the northeast and 
became freezing cold. They had no protection, no 
shelter, indeed it was necessary to bend over and use 
their bodies as a shelter to keep the rain from ex- 
tinguishing the fire. They dug in the sand for 
drinking water in vain, the Gulf rose and their island 
was covered with six inches of water. They heaped 
up the sand for a foundation, and then placed upon 
it twigs and rushes with which to make a small fire 
and keep it from the water underneath. They re- 
mained at this place all day. The next day the 
weather moderated slightly and they were able to 
start. Running before a strong north wind, they 
sought here, there, and everywhere for some opening 
in the labyrinth of islands, until finally they rounded 
a point and came in sight of the mainland. This 



THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI 157 

too brought its dangers, for now they received the 
full sweep of the storm, which had increased in 
violence with the approach of night. The sea broke 
over their little open boats unchecked, while the 
canoes which the great seas had compelled them 
to take on board threatened to bring all to a common 
disaster. At one time they tried to land, fearing to 
pass the river in the dark and storm without recogni- 
tion, while at another time they fought for the open 
sea in fear of wreck on the shore to which every 
squall was forcing them. The furious gale showed 
no signs of abating, the waves became more violent 
and hurled the boats savagely hither and thither, 
night was fast approaching, and the men were soak- 
ing wet and chilled to the bone by the fierce wind. 
After breasting the blast for three hours across the 
point of a formidable cape of jutting rocks, Iberville 
concluded they must go ashore or perish. The little 
shallops could stand no more, and shipwreck must 
be risked. Sauvole,* in charge of the second boat, 
saw Iberville put about and steer apparently 
straight to death against the rocks, but that formi- 
dable cape opened before him into an aggregation of 
isolated rocks and received in its sheltering arms the 
battered longboats, which now sped smoothly on a 

* Many well-known writers have insisted that Sauvole was a 
younger brother of Iberville. The vrriter agrees with Hamilton and 
Kong that there is absolutely no foundation for this statement. Vide 
King, " Sieur de Bienville," page 73 note- 



158 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

waveless sea. Straining through the multitude of 
rocks which dotted the water for miles was a swift, 
strong current that swept relentlessly out into the 
Gulf. The men, weary and terrified, now found 
consolation. They tasted the water; it was sweet 
and from much sediment whitish in color — it was 
the mouth of the Mississippi. The rescue of the 
boats and the object of the expedition were simul- 
taneously accomplished (March 2, 1699). 

The stream became thicker and whiter and the 
current so swift that even with the strong wind in 
their favor and all sail set they made but poor head- 
way. The rocks at the entrance, twisted, gnarled, 
and fantastic in form, were the petrified remnants of 
forest giants which the great current had brought 
down on its bosom to suffer in time this sea change. 
The trees with interlocking arms had fastened them- 
selves to the bottom and to each other, and sediment 
and slime had been heaped over the mass, which had 
all solidified into those grotesque and menacing monu- 
ments — high, dark, and irregularly located — which 
stood as the clustered guardians of that long-sought 
channel, rolling its great flood of turbid waters 
around and through the midst of these monstrous 
piles. Loath to surrender a long-held individuality, 
the waters did not readily mingle with those of the 
Gulf. Pushing on, Iberville came after dark to a 
narrow sand spit on which the boats again narrowly 



THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI 150 

escaped wreck, and, pressing forward against the 
urge of the river, he at last made camp on a sedge- 
grown shore of sand, across which, not fifty yards 
away, the sea, cheated of its prey, foamed and roared 
and beat in impotent fury. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE RIVER 

THE characteristic appearance of the rock- 
bound entrance convinced Iberville that he 
had found the river called by the Spaniards 
the "Palisades," but was it also the one known 
to the Indians as the " Malbancia," and were these 
two only other names for what the northern tribes 
called the Mississippi ? This was the question now 
to be determined, but how? He turned this over 
in his mind as he lay before the fire that night in 
his lonely camp among the thick reeds and rushes 
that bind the soil of the delta. He felt all the 
pleasure possible in seeing himself escaped from a 
very imminent peril. Sheltered from wind and wave 
by the sand and sedge, his mind reverted also to 
the hardships of the day. He says ironically, "It 
is a very gallant business exploring the shores of 
the sea on boats that are not large enough to keep 
out the sea either under sail or at anchor, 
and too large to land on a flat coast, but strand 
a mile and a half from shore." It is not difficult 
to see why he was doubtful about the entrance, 
since even now it is hard to recognize, and later 



THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE RIVER 161 

Tonty found it unfamiliar in its high stage, pre- 
senting as it did an appearance so different from 
that during low water when he and La Salle came 
down. Instead of a large bay into the bottom of 
which the river discharges with a broad channel, it 
stretches out an enormous hand at arm's length 
into the Gulf, a hand and arm composed of its own 
alluvial offerings, and grasps the Gulf so eagerly 
that the water escapes as through the fingers, in 
a perfect maze of creeks, bayous, and passes which 
intersect the mass of soil and debris over an area 
of fourteen hundred square miles. It was as if the 
Venerable River, dissatisfied with its length, had pro- 
longed its course into the Gulf upon a trestlework 
of its own formation. Iberville in his heart was con- 
vinced of the identity of his discovery, but neverthe- 
less he had to make his demonstration complete for 
the doubters at home. In the morning, true to his 
marine training, he attempted to take the usual 
soundings, but the weather would not permit this 
except in the sheltered channel. The river itself, 
he says, was about three hundred and fifty fathoms 
wide, with a strong current, but what especially 
pleased him was the whitish and muddy appearance 
of the water, since this was the characteristic 
mentioned by La Salle. 

Unable meanwhile to demonstrate his opinion that 
it was really the river he sought, he enjoyed his 

triumph with a certain reserve. Not so, however, 

11 



162 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

Sauvole, who had no doubts and rejoiced openly, as 
did all the others, and as it was a feast-day the 
name Mardi Gras was given to a bayou where a 
cross was planted, mass said, and a Te Deum sung. 
Iberville, however, resolved to prove the correct- 
ness of his belief by ascending as far as the fork of 
which the "Relations" spoke. According to the 
journals he should find forty leagues up the river on 
the left the deserted village of the Tangipahoas ; two 
leagues above this, the Quinipissas ; and forty leagues 
above these, a division, or fork, in the river. Thence 
to the Coroas should be six leagues, and to the Natchez 
ten, to the Tenzas twelve, to the Arkansas eighty. 
It all seemed very plain and reliable, and he made 
ready to ascend the river. This was a difficult task, 
which was made dangerous by the quantities of 
logs and great trees that came whirling and tossing 
like toys down the rapid current. Nevertheless the 
expedition, led by Bienville in one of the canoes, 
started bravely out upon the broad expanse of the 
great river which lay before them. The work was 
toilsome in the extreme, but they progressed steadily, 
and every evening the cannon in the bow of the 
longboat boomed a salute to the flag and every 
morning they blazed the trees in Canadian fashion 
to mark the site of the camp. In this enterprise 
there was no opportunity to dreamily drift in the 
sluggish current of a tropical stream, but, imbued 
with a firm purpose to succeed or fail while working 



THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE RIVER 163 

to the utmost, the boats v/ere forced against the 
swift current by sail where possible but otherwise 
by oars, mostly the latter, and thus they won their 
slow way upward. The frequent crooks and turns 
were a great source of annoyance to the Canadians, 
who complained that they had to cross the stream 
four or five times in going a league. To Iberville 
too the great river with its muddy current and 
many bends was very different from his own St. 
Lawrence with its broad and almost straight channel 
and its deep, majestic current of blue pure water rolling 
calmly to the sea, save where the occasional rapids 
gave a life and power to that river which he now 
missed on the Mississippi. The boats moved steadily 
on, however, through a scenery new and strange to 
the Canadians. They saw the sedge and rushes on 
the sandbars at the mouth gradually change on the 
more elevated though still marshy land into a dense 
growth of cane with its tall, straight stems and 
feathery light-green foliage. This in turn gave way 
to swamps streaked with strands of cypress, to pine, 
red cedar, oak, and the fragrant magnolia, and all 
gracefully hung with festoons of Spanish moss or 
embossed with the growing masses of mistletoe. 
Water turkeys sat huddled on the higher limbs of 
the dead trees or dropped incuriously to the water. 
Cardinals and mocking-birds flew in great numbers 
among the trees on the shore, and herons, blue, gray, 
and white, flapped their lazy wings ahead of the 



164 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

boats with discordant cries. Buzzards soared high 
in the heavens, alert for food, while clumsy pelicans 
winged their way to and from the Gulf. They 
noted with interest the huge catfish and were aston- 
ished at the strange-appearing spade-fish. Various 
incidents broke the monotonous dodging of drift- 
wood and sandbars. A barge was dismasted by a 
squall, and while a new mast was stepped the men 
found and enjoyed wild blackberries. Then the 
food became scarce, and all went on rations carefully 
doled out day by day, although occasionally they 
secured a feast in the shape of an alligator, a rattle- 
snake, or a bear 

Nevertheless they resolutely advanced, and after 
five days of laborious and discouraging exertion they 
were cheered by meeting some Indians, from whom 
they inquired their way and received the provoking 
news that their Bayagoulas friends had arrived at 
their village by a short cut through a small river. 
They were able to secure new supplies from these 
Indians, whom they entertained by exhibiting many 
little trinkets and by giving them presents, and 
whom also they frightened by discharging the can- 
non. They passed the night in a huge cane field of 
extreme density and height. A guide accompanied 
Iberville the next day, and about six miles up the 
river showed him the Indian portage between the 
river and the Gulf, probably Bayou St. John, through 
which pirogues could be dragged easily. 



THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE RIVER 165 

The weather changed from hot to cold, and the 
river from graceful bends and curves to inconceiv- 
able contortions. The rowers pulled six miles to 
advance one. On account of fatigue from the con- 
stant labor and the onset of a heavy tropical rain, 
one day was spent in rest upon the bank. Some 
of the men went out hunting, and two Breton sailors 
from the Marin were lost. Cannon were fired dur- 
ing the night, and on the following day parties 
were sent in various directions firing their guns at 
intervals, while the barges rowed up and down the 
shore, but no trace of the wanderers could be 
found, and the expedition proceeded without them. 

Passing Bayou Plaquemines, which the guide called 
Ouachas River, they met two pirogues containing 
Indians of the Ouachas and Bayagoulas tribes from 
whom they secured more corn. The Ouachas then 
went on to their village, while the Bayagoulas re- 
turned up stream to announce the arrival of the 
French to their chiefs. The French ground their 
corn and seasoned it with salt pork, thus produc- 
ing a dish which the Indians called "sagamity." 
Starting early the next day, they soon arrived near 
the village of the Bayagoulas * and their communal 

* The Mougoulachas and Bayagoulas (Choctaw, meaning " white 
oak people ") lived together in one village on the west bank of the 
Mississippi about sixty-four leagues from the sea. The Oumas, or 
Houmas, were on the east bank just below the mouth of Red River. 
The Natchez were higher up on the same side. The Tensas lived on 
the west bank of the river farther north than the Natchez, and the 
Coroas were still higher up. 



166 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

tribe, the Mougoulachas (March 14). A delegation 
met them with a large calumet, brilliantly deco- 
rated with colored feathers, which was passed and 
smoked from barge to barge. Then, standing in 
the bow of Iberville's boat, the calumet-bearer held 
aloft his pipe and chanted a peace song as the 
flotilla gradually approached the Indian-crowded 
landing of the tribe. Stepping from the boat, Iber- 
ville was supported by two warriors and led to a 
cleared space under the trees where on outspread 
bear skins sat the chief in state surrounded by 
warriors and women. Resting on a forked stick 
in the centre of the meeting place and guarded by 
a noble warrior who was religiously attending to 
his duty, Iberville beheld the iron calumet which 
he had given the Indians on the sea shore, the 
miniature ship with the swinging folds of fleur-de- 
lis. Food was provided, and Iberville gave out 
presents and quite won the savage hearts by his 
tactful methods and gallant mien. 

They reported the passage of "Iron Hand" Tonty, 
who had stopped at their village both going and re- 
turning from the mouth, and while this was valuable 
testimony to the identity of the river, no information 
could be obtained about the mysterious " fork." The 
news of Tonty was made more convincing by the 
knives and hatchets of French manufacture which 
the Indians possessed, and the Canadians had a mo- 
ment of joy not unmingled with homesickness when 



THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE RIVER 167 

the haughty chief appeared clad in a coat of Montreal 
blue which he said had been given to him by Tonty. 
With that happy facility characteristic of the 
French people and especially marked in his own 
family, Iberville by this time had learned enough of 
the Indian language to understand it and to commu- 
nicate in it by aid of signs, while Bienville, who had 
kept the guide in the boat with him, could talk fairly 
well. There was no linguistic misunderstanding pos- 
sible therefore ; the Indians were sure the river neither 
forked nor branched, and they demonstrated this by 
drawing a map of the river and its tributaries. As 
to the Tangipahoas, their village had never been on 
the Mississippi. They had formed one of the seven 
tribes of the Quinipissas, whose village the Oumas 
had destroyed and whose national identity they had 
abolished by incorporating the survivors into their 
own tribe, where, as they said, they could still be 
seen. Iberville could not reconcile this in any way 
with the "Relations," and especially with that of 
Hennepin, who he could not believe would be guilty 
of making a false statement to the whole of France. 
Furthermore he was in a very embarrassing situation, 
one hundred and ninety leagues from his ships, his 
provisions exhausted, his men broken from their 
incessant toil against the current, his colony still to 
be located, and Surge res under orders to return to 
France in six weeks. He was convinced if he re- 
turned from where he was without further proof that 



168 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

Tonty had passed, it would not be credited in France 
that he had found the Mississippi in the face of the 
contradictory " Relations." 

There seemed to be no course left but to continue 
the arduous journey up stream. The afternoon passed 
in more feasting, singing, dancing, and tribal ceremo- 
nials which Iberville was too wise to neglect. The 
next day was spent with the Mougoulachas, where 
similar ceremonies were enacted and presents ex- 
changed. Iberville made a careful examination of 
the village and describes exhaustively the temple and 
the forms of worship of their tutelary deity the 
" possum." In his wanderings he was delighted to 
find a glass bottle which also had been left by Tonty. 
He was not content, however. He says, " Seeing my- 
self so far and no certainty that I was on the Missis- 
sippi, which I had been sent to find, and seeing no 
Nation of whom mention was made in the * Rela- 
tions,' I resolved to go to the Oumas, where I knew 
Tonty had been." Iberville was quite disgusted with 
the Bayagoulas, who he thought did not compare in 
physique with the sturdy northern Indians of his 
Canada, and living as they did in the midst of a most 
rich and fertile country they seemed on that account 
to be only so much the less industrious. But such as 
they were he could use them, and when the chief 
offered to take him to the village of the Oumas in his 
canoe with eight of his wives at the paddles, he gladly 
accepted. 



THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE RIVER 169 

A cross bearing the arms of France was planted, 
and then he started in search of that " fork " which 
he believed to be the distinctive feature of the lower 
Mississippi. This point had got on his nerves and 
must be proved or disproved. No rollicking jests, no 
Canadian boating song, no lilting ballad, cheered the 
hearts of that exhausted crew, but every effort at the 
oars brought an oath or a groan. But despite his 
grumbling and swearing crew and driven by his very 
natural anxiety to find positive confirmation, Iberville 
pushed eagerly forward. On the east bank of the 
river the chief pointed out, as they ascended, the 
little stream which led to the home of the Biloxi 
Indians. He called it the Ascantia and said it was 
the only fork of the Mississippi he knew of that led 
to the sea. They passed a pole stripped of its bark 
and planted near the shore. It was painted red and 
covered with skulls of fish and bears, and the Indians 
told him it marked the boundary between the tribes 
of the Oumas and Bayagoulas. After leaving this 
Golgotha which they had named Baton Rouge, they 
came to a bayou about six feet wide which the chief 
said would save them about thirty-six miles if they 
could get through it. Bienville examined it and 
reported it feasible. Then the Canadians took their 
axes and cut through a huge log jam and felled trees 
until a pathway was secured, then the luggage was 
portaged, and by means of pulleys the longboats 
were dragged through rain and mire to the other 



170 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

side. Since then the bayou has been called Pointe 
Coupee, although the river soon seized upon the new- 
cut-off and made it its own main channel. 

Their journey involved five days of hard rowing up 
stream, but at length they arrived at the landing of 
the Oumas, where they were met by a delegation and 
conducted to the venerable chief in his palisaded vil- 
lage. They too had much to say of Tonty, who had 
spent five days with them, but they knew nothing of 
any " fork." Iberville now thought that the Indians 
might have reasons for concealing the truth about 
the river, so he concluded to go on to the Coroas, be- 
low whose village about six leagues the " Relations " 
said the fork was to be found. So on the following 
day they started on another long nine days' journey 
up stream. To secure an unbiassed opinion he took 
a Tensas Indian with him into his own barge and 
cross-examined him rigorously, but gained nothing 
new. The Tensas man had been as high as the Ar- 
kansas and declared positively there was no fork in 
the river. When they stopped at night he drew a 
map on the sand showing that in three days they 
would reach the mouth of the Tassenogogoula River 
(Red River), but no fork. Then by a large bend the 
river came back to within a few miles of the village 
they had just left, and in three days more they would 
reach the Natchez Tribe, after which they would come 
in two days to his own village, but no fork. Iberville 
now sat down and used the deadly parallel, putting 



THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE RIVER 171 

what the friars had stated on one side and what he 
had found and learned upon the other. The result 
was conclusive ; the friars knew nothing whatsoever 
of the lower river. He also concluded that so many 
Indians could not be mistaken in regard to so simple 
a fact as a fork in a river. Thoroughly disgusted 
with the priestly inventions, he decided to search no 
farther for things that did not exist. Likewise his 
persistent questioning had brought other information 
of great consequence. He learned that one of the 
Mougoulacha chiefs had a letter from Tonty which 
had been given him for '^ a, man who would come 
up the river from the sea," which must be La Salle, 
therefore the river must be the Mississippi. Further- 
more other conditions were pressing upon him that 
gave him great anxiety. Much time had been frittered 
away in ceremonials with the various tribes, and the 
limit of his stay was at hand. The provisions were 
low, the expedition was a long way from the sea and 
much farther from the ships, and he had promised 
that he would be back in six weeks. His growing 
indignation at the mendacious friars for their mis- 
chievous tales and fictitious narratives now culmi- 
nated in an explosion of wrath in which he expressed 
himself in no uncertain manner. Father Douay es- 
pecially felt the weight of his order's disgrace, and 
was glad to travel in any boat but Iberville's. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE FORT AT BILOXI AND THE RETURN TO 
FRANCE 

IT was now absolutely necessary to fall back ; so 
the orders were issued, the boats were turned 
about, and the retreat began. Picking up the 
Bayagoula chief again at the Ouma village, the 
expedition moved cheerfully and rapidly down 
stream followed by the regretful farewells of their 
Indian hosts. They saved a day by using Pointe 
Coupee, where they found alligators collected around 
the still glowing embers of their recent campfire, 
and on the next day, March 22, they reached the 
small stream, the Ascantia, that joins the Mississippi 
on the east, and here Iberville decided to divide 
the party. He would explore the Ascantia, while 
Sauvole and Bienville with the two barges which 
could not pass the little river should go down the 
Mississippi with the Indians whom they would leave 
at their village, and then go on and take soundings 
at the mouth. Bienville was also charged to buy 
if possible, but at any rate to secure, that all-im- 
portant letter of Tonty's from the Mougoulacha chief. 
Then Iberville with two canoes and four of his 



THE FORT AT BILOXI AND RETURN TO PRANCE 173 

Canadians -witli Indian guides pushed through the 
tangled undergrowth and began his journey on the 
little river, which the guides said led to a bay 
only twenty-four miles from the ships' anchorage. 
This little stream, then very properly called Iber- 
ville River, is now known by the shorter but less 
distinctive name of Manchac Pass. It was about ten 
feet wide and five feet deep, but much obstructed 
by fallen trees. The stream was alive with snakes 
and alligators, but it drained a country composed of 
a rich and fertile alluvial soil upon which grew a 
dense vegetation, and this in turn sheltered a great 
variety and abundance of game. This route was 
much more difficult than the big river, requiring as 
it did about eighty portages, but it was much nearer 
in point of distance. Besides the difficulties of the 
route other complications appeared to delay and vex 
him. One of his Canadians fell ill, and Iberville had 
to take his place on the portages. On the second 
day the Indian guide abandoned him, but his 
thorough Canadian training in woodcraft stood him 
in good stead and he pressed on without a guide. 
The way led over many portages, through bayous and 
swamps surrounded by cypress and hung with the 
ever present Spanish moss or dense with under- 
growth and dark with thick-growing trees, and 
across sloughs of clear flowing water beside which 
sometimes lay half-finished Indian dugouts. After 
passing a small height of land by portage he entered 



174 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

another bayou, then a series of lakes and connecting 
waters which, in honor of the Minister and his son, 
Iberville named Maurepas Lake and Lake Pontchar- 
train. Snakes had menaced them at all times, but 
in the lakes the alligators * became a very serious 
danger to the small canoes as they heaved them- 
selves heavily up from the depths, while their great 
bellowings at night served to keep the travellers 
awake, an achievement in which they were indus- 
triously aided by the myriads of mosquitoes, " fright- 
ful little beasts to men in need of rest." 

Lake Pontchartrain was quite large and in many 
places approached the river so closely that the latter 
could be seen over the intervening cane and marsh. 
Iberville travelled rapidly, making from twenty-five 
to thirty-five miles a day, and soon passed the lakes 
and reached the beach where the broad bosom of 
the great Gulf opened before him, tossing its restless 
billows, limitless, voiceless, and lonely, without sign 
of ship or human life. Here he kindled a great 
fire to attract the attention of the fleet, so that the 
longboat would come for him if the Gulf should 
be too rough for his canoe. On the next day the 
weather was calm, and he started, but when about 

* Charlevoix says that it was a common belief at the time of his 
visit that one could hardly make a stroke of the oar in Lake Pont- 
chartrain without touching an alligator, an assertion that is supported 
by the following statement by Farrand : " In view of the fact that two 
hundred and eighty thousand skins are used annually, it is not sur- 
prising that the supply is becoming rapidly reduced." ("Basis of 
American History.") 




M A 



^T. Ross's ]\ 

possession of Chic 

{iver to sliips ii 
catiou of India 
ntioiiod in first 




Portion ok Lt. Ross's Map, made in 1765 

(Original in possession of Chicftgo Historical Society) 

Shows (a) route of Iberville from Mississippi River to sliips in first expedition ; (/;) site of Fort La Boulaye, the first 

establishment on the river ; (c.) the location of Indian tribes along the river as far as the Tunicas ; 

(d) Poiute Con])e'e, mentioned in first expedition ; (e) English Turn 



THE FORT AT BILOXI AND RETURN TO FRANCE 175 

half-way over to Ship Island he met the barges 
coming to investigate the cause of the fire. He 
reached the ships on the thirty-first. About eight 
hours thereafter Sauvole and Bienville, who had 
descended the Mississippi, also reached the ship. 
They reported the shores of the river wherever 
seen to be covered with cane, and at the mouth 
they had found from eighteen to twenty fathoms 
of water. They had discovered the two lost sailors 
among the Bayagoulas, to whom they had been 
guided by an Indian who had met them starving 
and exhausted, toiling slowly up the muddy shore 
of the river in pursuit of the boats. Bienville 
had had some trouble with the Bayagoulas, who 
had stolen the diary (''Relations") and breviary of 
Father Douay, who had accompanied him, and 
they were greatly annoyed when the Father tried 
to regain it. Sauvole also reported that he had 
found a ''dry spot" on the bank of the Mississippi 
suitable for a settlement, one that was not overflowed. 
But more important than all was the letter. They had 
the "speaking bark" from Tonty, dated April 20, 
1686, which they had bought for a hatchet from 
the chief of the Mougoulachas. For fourteen years 
he had carried and preserved it for delivery to " a man 
who would come up the river." And dated as it 
was at the village of the Quinipissas, it cleared up 
another point besides the identity of the river; it 
showed that the Bayagoulas and Mougoulachas either 



176 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

intentionally or ignorantly had concealed the name 
of their village, which was now revealed by him 
of the " Iron Hand," Poor Tonty, heartbroken over 
his failure to meet La Salle, who at that moment 
was ranging the prairies of Texas and moving in- 
evitably to his death, had left the letter in the hope 
that it would be given to La Salle, should he ever 
reach the river. Hearing, he said, from Quebec, 
that La Salle had lost a ship in his expedition to 
find the mouth of the river and that the savages 
were plundering him, he, Tonty, had descended the 
Illinois from Fort St. Louis to the mouth of the 
Mississippi, with twenty-five men, and had sought 
for him along the shores of the Gulf twenty-five 
leagues to either side of the delta. He had found 
the Indians friendly both going and coming. 

When Iberville read Tonty's letter, he was much 
vexed that he had not gone down the river, for it 
stated that Tonty would leave another letter in a 
hollow tree about seven leagues from the mouth. 
This Iberville said he would have found, since there 
were but few trees on the river for seven leagues from 
the mouth, and those were on the west bank. The 
last doubt was vanquished, — the Malbancia must 
be the Mississippi. Thus Iberville's long and toil- 
some journey was rewarded by a certainty regarding 
the identity of the river and by the acquisition 
of this valuable letter which he would not have 
obtained otherwise. 



THE FORT AT BILOXI AND RETURN TO FRANCE 177 

It was now imperative to locate the settlement, but 
Iberville felt that Sauvole's " dry spot " was too far 
away to be utilized under the urgent conditions that 
faced him. Apparently it was too far from the 
Gulf for commercial convenience and too near the 
Indians for safety. Nevertheless eighteen years 
afterward Bienville founded New Orleans on Sau- 
vole's " dry spot." After much investigation and 
many soundings both east and west of the ship's 
anchorage, it seemed best to locate at Biloxi if a 
good harbor could be found. Neither Lake Pont- 
chartrain nor the Mississippi seemed entirely satis- 
factory. Something near at hand was necessary, 
for the establishment must be founded at once, as 
supplies were failing rapidly. The mouth of the 
Pascagoula River which led easily inland offered the 
most desirable site, but this had been sounded by 
Iberville's orders during his absence and failed to 
show sufficient depth of water. The Bay of Biloxi 
with its guardian island offered the next most suit- 
able site on account of its proximity to the various 
Indian tribes. A felucca sent to explore this re- 
turned with an unfavorable answer, whereupon Iber- 
ville took the felucca and with the fatigues of his 
recent journey still upon him sailed back to Lake 
Pontchartrain to search those shores. About ten 
o'clock on the following night he returned, having 
lost his bearings repeatedly in the darkness and heavy 
seas which all but swamped him. The felucca had 

12 



178 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

been drifting rapidly seaward on the ebbing tide 
when the lights went up on the ship's masts and 
saved them. He had found the lakes possible only 
as a last resource, but after some further exploration 
had about decided to locate there when he took a last 
look at the Biloxi waters and happily discovered a 
narrow channel of deep water leading to a comfort- 
able harbor between the mainland and an island and 
extending back to a beautiful little bay. 

It was enough. The decision was made, the trees 
cut, a space cleared, and the plan of the fort laid out ; 
but the work went all too slowly for the impatient 
Iberville. The men were reinforced by workmen 
from the crews, and the boats were constantly busy 
carrying men and material from the ships to the 
shore, while the people on shore dug, built, and 
planted. At length the fort with parapet and 
cannon occupying the middle of the clearing was 
completed, and named Fort Maurepas. Guns, ammu- 
nition, provisions, cattle, horses, and swine were put 
ashore, and for two days twenty-five men worked at 
sowing corn and peas for the use of the colony. In 
the midst of the work five Spanish deserters arrived 
from Pensacola telling such sad stories of sickness 
and mutiny there and such glittering tales of the 
wealth and cowardice of the Spanish at Vera Cruz, 
that Iberville became quite interested. He kept the 
deserters to take back to France for reference, and in 
his journal he notes thoughtfully that with five 



THE FORT AT BILOXI AND RETURN TO FRANCE 179 

hundred Canadians he could keep all New Spain in 
terror. He now arranged for his departure. Sau- 
vole was left in charge of the fort, with Bienville 
next in command, and a garrison of seventy men and 
boys. With only enough provisions for the voyage 
and a crew barely large enough to work the ship, 
Iberville sailed for France on May 3, 1699, shortly 
after the fort was finished. Thus it was that he 
found the mouth of that great river whose very exist- 
ence was denied by some and doubted by many, and 
only missed by Beaujeu by so slight a chance as his 
refusal to return when so requested by La Salle. 

In France his return was awaited with impatience. 
His reports aroused the interest of science, the zeal 
of commerce, and encouraged the Government to 
greater exertions. Iberville had carefully taken the 
latitude and longitude of the places he had visited, 
and thereby revealed the reasons for the previous 
geographical errors as well as those of La Salle, who 
had abandoned himself to incorrect maps. He says, 
" All the charts hitherto made have been drawn by 
people who do not know the degrees of latitude and 
longitude nor how far places are from one another 
and who do not count the turns and twists of the 
way." Nevertheless maps continued to be published 
for a number of years which gave the location of the 
river incorrectly. 

Joutel now recalled with chagrin that La Salle 
had originated the enterprise, and he also made claim 



180 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

to the points in which his journal had aided Iberville. 
But more than disagreeable was the return of Iber- 
ville to that false priest, Hennepin. Iberville did not 
conceal his wrath, says Margry, against the Recollect 
friar for that misinformation which had exacted from 
him so many hardships in proving its falsity, and 
Hennepin was greatly embarrassed when meeting 
any of the knowing ones like Thoynard.* Beaujeu 
was even more annoyed, if possible, than the friar 
or Joutel by the success of Iberville, for well he 
realized if he had but obeyed La Salle in that mo- 
mentous year 1685, and returned by the route se- 
lected, the wreath of honor then in his very hand 
would have been placed on his head rather than 
Iberville's. He had given great attention to the ex- 
pedition, and before IberviUe had quitted Europe he 
had written, " I hope he will succeed, but /ear he will 
fail like La Salle." His real hope was voiced in the 
latter part of the sentence, and after the departure of 
Iberville Beaujeu had made allusions to the currents 
and " feared " they would serve him a bad turn if he 
was not watchful. He had referred to Iberville in 
derision as the " Hero of the Mississippi," and when 
his " Hero " returned in that very capacity, he tried 
to throw doubt on the discovery and minimize its 
importance. He says "there is no certainty in the 
statements of these Canadians whose reports are often 

* Nicholas Thoynard, writer, lawyer, and counsellor to many of 
the nobility, held an official position in the city of Orleans. 



THE FORT AT BILOXI AND RETURN TO FRANCE 181 

full of dreams, and even if true we shall not profit by 
it, — the Spanish will not let us." In this last word 
Beaujeu had put his finger on one of the difficulties 
of the expedition ; it was now necessary to hold what 
had been scientifically determined. A colony must 
be sent out and forts built not only to prevent the 
encroachment of England but to overcome the resist- 
ance of Spain. 

The question of the colonies had always attracted 
Pontchartrain, and especially Canada, which he 
longed to visit, and he therefore busied himself in 
arranging new measures to hinder all rival enterprises 
in the country which Iberville was expected to open 
up. Directly after the departure of the Badine and 
Marin Pontchartrain' s enthusiasm was strengthened 
and his interest encouraged by the influence of his 
friend and tutor, the noble Vauban. 

In a long document Vauban reviewed for Pontchar- 
train the various conditions as they existed in the 
colonies where French and English were watching 
each other. He says : 

"Virginia and Quebec were settled at the same time, 
but while the space of the Enghsh colonies was restricted 
and the population rapidly multiplying, the French terri- 
tory was vast, but so located that the English could not 
expand without encroachment. A contest was inevitable. 
The French held the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi 
basins by right of discovery and exploration, and were 
making good their claims as fast as possible by forts and 
settlements. In justice the English had no right to cross 



182 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

the Alleghanies, and yet by the charter rights granted by 
Charles II and James II, the boundaries were accorded 
without consideration of the French, and, indeed, as if they 
did not exist. When complaint was made the English 
even attempted to claim validity of occupation on the 
ground of supposititious explorations. The English were 
reported on the Ohio by Denonville and showed a deter- 
mination to go forward, and when, therefore, the English 
from Carohna appear among the Chichachas one perceives 
the prelude of an antagonism which La Salle felt when 
he urged the necessity of occupying the territory he had 
explored. The mistake in regard to the colonization of 
Hudson Bay and New England should serve as a 
warning." 

It was in vain, therefore, that Ducasse, Governor 
of San Domingo, doubted the value of the new terri- 
tory to commerce, and vaunted the superiority of his 
own colony both commercially and as a strategic 
point, being, as he said, the key to Mexico, Peru, 
Santa Fe, and Quito.* It was in vain too that the 
Governor of Canada (Caillieres) opposed the coloni- 
zation of Louisiana, fearing, as did Ducasse, the diver- 
sion of commerce, royal interest, and a diminution 
of personal importance. This fear was not altogether 
unfounded, but it was vitally necessary to both colo- 
nies, both as politics and strategy, if they were to 
remain as the two heads of New France, that a 
close communication by way of the Great Lakes 

* He concludes, " Sieur d'lberville is an excellent man, honest and 
well intentioned, but one must guard against his spirit of enterprise." 
(Ducasse to the Minister.) 



THE FORT AT BILOXI AND RETURN TO FRANCE 183 

should unite the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence. 

This, then, was the situation when Iberville returned 
to Rochelle, June 29, 1699, to reinforce the Minister. 
He had given many evidences of his exceptional 
ability as a leader of men, but in his communication 
to the Government he now exhibits a rare political 
sagacity. He demonstrated that it was necessary 
to act, not to overthrow the Spanish but to arrest 
the march of the English. With a statesmanlike 
grasp of the situation he says: 

** It is necessary to concern ourselves with the perils that 
menace our establishments. These conditions arise from 
the neighborhood of powers that are dangerous both by 
their numbers and superiority of position to the French 
colonists. Near our colonies on the north, the EngUsh 
and Dutch colonies occupy a country with a temperate 
climate and superabundant production. They can draw 
numberless emigrants whom they can establish advanta- 
geously and fix for ever. The French who come into New 
France are attracted by certain advantages, by the ex- 
ploitation of the immense forests, and the fisheries, but 
they have to contend with a rigorous climate and they 
dream only of spending their accumulations in the Mother 
Country. The English are established in the south in a 
zone superior to that at home, and after a few years they 
do not wish to leave. To preserve its position on the 
north, France must occupy the banks of the Missouri and 
Mississippi as far as- the Gulf. This is the more urgent, 
since England is preparing to occupy this same region. If 
France does not seize this part of America which is the 
most beautiful to have for a colony, and strong enough to 



184 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

resist any which England may have here, the English 
colonies already considerable in Carolina will so thrive that 
in less than one hundred years they will be strong enough 
to seize all America. If we do not increase as fast as the 
English who have the colonizing spirit and who enrich 
themselves and remain in those places which France has 
not found it desirable to retain, how much more might 
they accomplish in highly valuable and desirable regions." 

After the lapse of two hundred years the situation 
could not be described more clearly or accurately 
than in the preceding words of the prophetic Iber- 
ville. Pontchartrain, too, dimly perceived the ex- 
istence of a definite and irreconcilable antagonism, 
and feeling it a duty to erect a barrier against the 
English flood, with also a strong hope that mines as 
good as those found by the Spanish might be dis- 
covered, he empowered Iberville to carry supplies 
for seven months and material for trade to Biloxi, 
together with some Canadians who had been with 
him upon Hudson Bay. Among other things he was 
instructed to bring back samples of buffalo wool and 
of pearls and ores; he was to report whether the 
native women and children could be utilized in the 
rearing of silkworms and other industries. It was 
therefore ordered that the frigate Renommee and the 
store ship Girond should be made ready. While the 
preparations were going forward, both Iberville and 
Surgeres were decorated with the cross of the order 
of Chevaliers of St. Louis. 



THE FORT AT BILOXI AND RETURN TO FRANCE 185 

Iberville meanwhile learned from his London 
correspondent that the English were awaiting word 
from the two ships which had been sent to the 
Carolinas the preceding year commanded by Captain 
Banks, a man whom Iberville had captured in one of 
his Hudson Bay expeditions and whom he regarded 
as stupid and inefficient. Daniel Coxe, who bore the 
cost of this expedition, was the proprietor of the Caro- 
linas, a grant which embraced the country between 
the thirty-first and thirty-sixth parallels of latitude, 
" and all the lands lying westward to the sea," and 
he was earnestly attempting to colonize at the mouth 
of the Mississippi in order that the western portions 
of his grant should be protected. 

The Benommee and Girond sailed October 16, 
1699.* 

* According to his secret instructions, Iberville was forbidden to 
attack any English settlement he might find, but was to cause its 
destruction by the Canadians and Indians in such a way that he could 
himself disavow it. (Pontchartrain to Iberville, Sept. 22, 1699.) 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE ENGLISH EXPEDITION AND IBERVILLE'S 
RETURN TO BILOXI 

WHILE awaiting the return of the Com- 
mander, Sauvole and Bienville were by 
no means idle. The former urged the 
work on the unfinished buildings and studied the 
maintenance of discipline. He began with enthusiasm, 
but gradually lost heart and interest and wrote more 
and more discouragingly in his diary, until, homesick 
and depressed by the many misfortunes that afflicted 
the colony, he ultimately fell an easy victim to 
yellow fever shortly before the third and last visit of 
Iberville. Meanwhile the seed sowed by Iberville 
had sprouted promptly and then withered and died 
in the hot sun. Drouths and famine had followed 
quickly upon his departure, plagues of snakes and 
alligators which were killed at the very gates of 
the fort kept the colonists in anxiety, and they saw 
their boats eaten by worms {Teredos) under their 
very eyes. Much of the illness was among the 
unacclimated Canadians, whose depressed vitality 
did not easily throw off the fevers peculiar to the 
South. Water was so scarce that the swamps 



THE ENGLISH EXPEDITION 1S7 

dried up, and if a spring had not been discovered 
great suffering would have ensued. The men could 
work only two hours morning and evening, and 
many were afflicted with dysentery. Fishing, hunt- 
ing, and searching for pearls had occupied all the 
attention of the colonists, and agriculture had hardly 
been attempted. The French realized at once that 
the climate would not permit white men to work in 
the fields. In July two seminary priests, Davion 
and Montigny, who had come down from Quebec to 
work among the Tunica Indians near the mouth 
of the Arkansas, journeyed down the Mississippi to 
visit the new French establishment. They were 
exhausted from hunger, thirst, and fatigue, and while 
taken in and entertained, the burden of caring for 
them and the sixteen hungry men in the party 
made serious inroads on the slender stores of the 
colony in famine time. The Indians too came in 
to see, visit, and eat, and had to be treated cir- 
cumspectly. Nevertheless the work of the colony 
went steadily on. 

In spite of all obstacles the active and restless 
young Bienville explored the coast and visited the 
tribes from Pensacola to Biloxi and from Biloxi to 
the Oumas up the Mississippi. While returning from 
the latter trip he turned a bend in the river and 
twenty-three miles above the mouth came upon a cor- 
vette anchored in midstream. The corvette was one 
of those chartered and sent out by Daniel Coxe and 



188 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

was commanded by Captain Banks. The captain 
stated frankly that he was in search of the Mississippi. 
Bienville informed him that the river was not the 
Mississippi, but a river from Canada belonging to 
France, and that a large French colony was located 
a short distance up the stream. 

The captain had experienced as much difficulty as 
Iberville in finding the river. He had first sailed to 
the western extremity of the Gulf and then moved 
slowly backward along the coast, in this way missing 
by a few weeks the discovery which was the reward 
of Iberville's more direct and certain aim. Captain 
Banks, with none of Iberville's tenacity of purpose, 
yielded to the pressure of Bienville's arguments 
and agreed to retire, though he threatened also to 
return. From this encounter, the bend in the river 
where the young French lieutenant and his five 
Canadians met the English has since been called 
English Turn. 

While on board the English vessel Bienville had 
been approached by a French Huguenot engineer who 
assured him that there were five hundred discontented 
Huguenots at Charleston who would be glad to move 
to the new French colony if they could get the King's 
permission. Bienville had promised to report the 
matter. When Iberville received the word, he gave 
it great consideration, for with his comprehensive and 
unbiassed mind he saw in this situation the solution of 
most of his difficulties. He saw a powerful French 



THE ENGLISH EXPEDITION 189 

nation building up the entire Mississippi Valley and 
forming an absolute barrier against the English. But 
when the matter was reported to the Government, the 
reply came back that the King would hardly care 
to make France Catholic only to have his colonies 
heretic. 

Having watched the English safely out of the river, 
Bienville returned to Biloxi, where the fort routine 
was again taken up. Shortly after his return the 
Pascagoulas came in, bringing a Choctaw who con- 
firmed the impression made by Captain Banks 
that the English had determined to encroach upon or 
take possession of the Mississippi region. The Choc- 
taw came from the upper Alabama country, and he 
said that the English already had dealings with his 
tribe and that two Englishmen were established among 
the Chickasaws in the northern part of what is now 
the State of Mississippi. 

January 8, 1700, the boom of cannon in the Gulf 
announced Iberville's return, bringing to the colony 
everything in the way of stores and provisions and to 
Sauvole and Bienville their royal commissions. With 
him came Le Sueur, who had acquired a reputation 
through his adventures on the Great Lakes ; Juchereau 
de St. Denis, related to Iberville's wife ; Sieur Bois- 
briant, afterward celebrated in the annals of the colony, 
and, better than all, Le Moyne de Serigny and An- 
toine Le Moyne de Chateauguay, two more of that 
enterprising brotherhood. Chateauguay was the sec- 



190 SIEUR l>'IBERVILLfi 

ond of that surname, and now at the age of seventeen 
he came to assume his place in that portion of the 
great family of Canadian Maccabees which was work- 
ing out the problem of Louisiana. 

Iberville the soldier had now become Iberville the 
colonist, and interested himself in obtaining fine bulls 
and stallions to improve the native stock. He brought 
young girls of good family to become wives of the 
colonists. He brought cotton seed and sugar cane 
and began to figure on securing labor, which of course 
meant slaves. He sent out parties to look for mines, 
and considered the possibilities of commerce by sea, 
and with the more remote Indians by the interior 
waterways. As soon as Iberville arrived the colony 
came to life. One of his first acts was to plant some 
of that San Domingo sugar cane which was the first 
sugar cane planted in Louisiana. He remained at 
Biloxi only long enough to collect sixty men for a 
trip up the Mississippi. The first step, however, was 
to measure and sound Lake Pontchartrain. After 
this, finding that the barges could not go through the 
marshy pass to the Mississippi (probably Bayou St. 
John), they were left in the lake, and only the pi- 
rogues (dugouts) were carried across the portage, 
which was about three miles in length and about 
one-half of it through mud and water to the knees. 
Since one of the main incentives to this expedition 
was to find a site for a settlement and fort on 
the river, much time was spent looking for a place 



THE ENGLISH EXPEDITION l9l 

that was free from inundation. Finally, Iberville, who 
was ill with fever, became so weak that he returned to 
Biloxi, and Bienville went up to the Bayagoulas and 
returned with a chief of that tribe who pointed out a 
spot which he said was never inundated. The location 
besides being dry was well chosen for its attractive- 
ness. The forest was open for leagues below, while 
above them stretched a cypress forest. Iberville came 
up the river in a transport and joined Bienville, and 
thirty-eight miles below the future site of New Or- 
leans, the fort was begun. 

On February 16, 1700, Iberville was joined by Tonty, 
who by way of Quebec had heard of his first expedition 
and in anticipation of his return had come paddling 
down the river from Fort St. Louis with sixty voy- 
ageurs and a band of the Illinois and Tamaroas Indi- 
ans. The reinforcement was very welcome, as many 
of the colonists were ill, and, besides, the newcomers 
were fellow-Canadians and accustomed to the life in 
the woods. Tonty' s offer of assistance was promptly 
accepted, and as the intention was to explore Red 
River, the construction of the fort was left in charge 
of a Canadian, while Tonty and the Le Moynes set 
out up the river. Soon they fell in with Le Sueur, 
who had come over with Iberville to make an expe- 
dition to St. Anthony Falls and Mankato Country 
in search of mines and furs. Overtaking him on a 
portage, they continued their journey together as far 
as the village of the Bayagoulas. Among these Indians 



192 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

the rumor was again confirmed that the English were 
pushing westward from Carolina along De Soto's old 
trail and arming the Choctaws, while two men were 
stationed permanently among the Chickasaws. Iber- 
ville tarried a few days with the Bayagoulas and gave 
them cotton seed to plant, which was also the first to 
be planted in Louisiana. While there he composed 
their differences with the Oumas, and by extending his 
walks in various directions got a comprehensive idea 
of the country. He took up the march again and 
soon came to the Natchez village, where he was re- 
ceived with great joy and ceremony. With this tribe 
also he cemented a friendship with his tact and pres- 
ents, especially the latter. This friendship might 
have been lasting if some years later the senseless 
conduct of the colonists had not incited the Natchez 
to break the treaty and wreak a bloody revenge on 
their French neighbors. 

Leaving Bienville and the rest of the party here to 
make some necessary preparations for the Red River 
trip, Iberville himself set out with six men for the 
great Tensas village. Reaching the landing in a 
day and a half, he left the pirogue and started over- 
land, but the guide lost his way, and the night was 
spent supperless in the woods. Next morning they 
found the lake, a mere cut-off of the river upon which 
the tribe lived, and at midday came to the village. 
As usual, Iberville was received with pomp and cere- 
mony and immediately attached the Indians to him 



THE ENGLISH EXPEDITION 193 

by his tact and discretion. While at this village a 
great storm arose during which he became the horri- 
fied witness of human sacrifices to the God of Storms, 
which he checked only after five children had been 
burned. Here too he had accumulated a large store 
of provisions and other essentials for his expedition 
up the Red River, when his fever again became so high 
and the pain in his knee (probably rheumatic) so se- 
vere that he was compelled to abandon the trip, which 
had been planned primarily with intent to search for 
traces of La Salle and the unfortunate remnants of 
his expedition. Relinquishing his command to Bien- 
ville and sending Tonty on northward with presents 
for the Illinois Indians, he returned to the fort on 
the Mississippi. Making only a short stop at the 
Bayagoula village, he travelled express to the fort 
(named La Boulaye *), making the one hundred and 
twenty-six miles in thirty-three hours. He had trav- 
elled over two hundred leagues along the river and 
explored the shores, renewed his relations with the 
tribes and composed their differences. Ill as he was, 
his insatiable appetite for work and his indomitable 
will were not only undiminished but seemed to acquire 
a desperate intensity. The extent of his personal ac- 
tivities, however, was much circumscribed. But be- 
sides compelling the reluctant renunciation of the Red 
River trip his illness had much more serious conse- 

* Fort La Boulaye was located on Poverty Point, about thirty-eight 
miles below New Orleans. 

Id 



194 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

quences. By the attack of fever at this time the 
rugged health and iron constitution of the great Com- 
mander was broken. What the severe hardships of 
the Schenectady campaign and reckless exposure to 
the wintry tempests on ice-bound Newfoundland 
shores had failed to do was accomplished by the subtle 
and insidious fevers of the South. That wonderful 
physique was shattered. His old ambition burned 
fiercely, but it fed not on a robust constitution but 
upon his indomitable spirit and a body wherein waste 
already exceeded repair. 

Inspired with lofty aims and driven by strenuous 
purpose, the drama of his life continued to unroll 
its numerous scenes. Tableau after tableau shows 
him wresting from man and Nature those dearly 
bought victories. Unfortunately his intense applica- 
tion and even his many conquests, like those of the 
King, his master, were to avail him not at all in 
the attainment of his supreme and ultimate ambi- 
tion. Such a drama could have but one, and that 
a tragic, ending. Yet confident in his strength and 
happily unsuspecting, he followed the stern behests 
of his all-compelling star, and wrung success with 
grim resolve from every opportunity. From this 
time on the contest was very unequal. Against him 
were ranged the hostile English, his envious country- 
men in Canada, France, and San Domingo, the 
conservatism of the Court, the inconstancy of the 
Minister, the complications of European politics, 



THE ENGLISH EXPEDITION 195 

and the inert but no less serious obstacles of Nature. 
Nevertheless with health destroyed he valiantly 
pushed his unavailing battle, and eye held eye and 
point caught point as the ardent soul of Iberville 
fenced dauntlessly with Fate. 



CHAPTER XrV 

THE RED RIVER EXPEDITION AND THE RECON- 
NOISSANCE OF NEW YORK HARBOR 

DURING the absence of the Le Moynes Fort 
La Boulaye had advanced but little. Many 
of the workmen were ill and unaccustomed to 
the climate, and under such conditions they worked 
very slowly when the driving energy of the Le 
Moynes was removed. They had discovered also 
that the location had been badly chosen. It was 
inundated at high tide, and with heavy rains and a 
south wind the water was sometimes two feet deep. 
The land in consequence became a bottomless quag- 
mire on the subsidence of the waters. In spite of 
this misfortune, in spite of his pain and high fever, 
Iberville nevertheless hurried the workmen and sent 
the officers to find routes for the boats through the 
bayous. He sent to Sauvole at Biloxi for the bulls, 
cows, hogs, fowls, and other supplies for the new 
fort, and complacently reports that the trip was 
made by way of the river mouth in thirty-six 
hours. By the transport also he had news from 
Biloxi. De La Riola, the Governor of Pensacola, to 
show his authority or intimidate the French, had 



THE RED RIVER EXPEDITION 197 

paid them a visit with a frigate of twenty-four 
guns, two smaller armed vessels, and one hundred 
and forty men. He pompously came to make written 
protest against the settlement. The French out of 
their slender stores entertained him handsomely and 
sent him away with gratifying ceremony. A week 
later an open boat containing the pompous Spaniard, 
stripped of his pride and all his effects by the 
shipwreck of his entire fleet on Chandeleur Island 
and famishing from a five days' fast, arrived at Ship 
Island. Here was an opportunity to secure the 
friendship of the Spanish colony, and the French 
exerted themselves to relieve his necessities. The 
Governor was resupplied from the personal wardrobe 
of Iberville, and his men completely equipped from 
the scanty French store. 

Bienville, the youth of twenty, returned at this 
time from his expedition. He had left on March 22 
with twenty-two Canadians and six Tensas Indians 
for his exploring trip up the Red River. Their 
course took them through swamps, sloughs, and little 
rivers which they waded day after day, sometimes 
to the neck and nearly always to the thighs or 
waist. Bienville naively states that a medium-sized 
man is at a great disadvantage in such a country, 
because, while some of his men were in water only 
to the waist, he and others were nearly swimming, 
and pushing their packs before them on rafts — 
their usual method of crossinsr rivers. At such 



198 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

times it was necessary to fire their guns frequently 
to frighten away the alligators. By the end of the 
second day all the Indians deserted, because they 
could not stand the day-long exposure in cold water. 
Besides it rained nearly every day, so that they 
were deprived even of the comfort of a dry camp 
when they were able to find a resting place above 
the level of the swamp. Owing to the rains also the 
water continued to rise until finally they chopped 
out tree trunks with their hatchets and made 
pirogues. These helped some, but, as the current 
of the river now became very strong, their progress 
was extremely slow. Four weeks had been spent in 
this constant battle with Nature when Bienville de- 
cided to fall back, and on the twenty-third of April 
he began the descent of Red River in four pirogues, 
in which after considerable difficulty he arrived, on 
May 18, at the ships. 

As he came down the Mississippi he learned that 
the Bayagoulas had exterminated their village as- 
sociates, the Mougoulachas, and filled their places 
with other Indians. Iberville derived some satis- 
faction from this, since, as he says, the event gives 
him a good title to the greater portion of the 
Bayagoula village, for it had belonged to this 
Mougoulacha chief from whom he had bought it. 
Bienville's expedition had not failed, however, for, 
in addition to the acquisition of very necessary in- 
formation about the country and the distant tribes, 



THE RED RIVER EXPEDITION 199 

it had demonstrated anew the rare qualities of 
leadership which all the Le Moynes possessed to a 
degree only slightly less than their great brother, 
and it gave Bienville his title to an actual and 
enduring dominance in the colony. 

Montigny and Davion, the seminary priests, 
again came down the river on a visit about this 
time and brought the disquieting news that the 
English were tampering with the Indians to the 
north. They brought with them a letter from 
Tonty in which he described his efforts to counter- 
act these conditions by telling the Indians, as Iber- 
ville suggested, of the superior trading advantages 
which the French could offer. From these priests 
Iberville tried to secure information about the upper 
Mississippi and its great tributaries on the west, 
such as the Missouri, for at this time he was 
deeply interested in the exploration of the sources 
of the great river and was considering a voyage 
into the interior to discover, if possible, the " waters 
of the western sea." In this project, however, he 
received no aid or encouragement from the mis- 
sionaries, who knew nothing of the tributaries nor 
of the country except near the river itself. 

After making one more visit to his fort on the 
Mississippi to regulate affairs there, he took his 
departure on May 28, 1700. In pursuance of the 
design against the Atlantic seaboard which he had 
been considering for several years, Iberville con- 



200 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

eluded that this was as good a time as any to get 
the necessary data, and so, ill as he was, he sailed 
directly for New York harbor. His arrival on June 20 
created great consternation. The Governor of the 
port reported his presence to Lord Bellomont, of 
the Captain Kidd connection, who in turn informed 
the "Lords of Trade," and much correspondence 
was exchanged in efforts to have the fortifications 
improved. For, as Bellomont said, while Iberville 
stated that he had only called for " wood and water " 
while en route from the Mississippi to France, yet 
this harbor was very much out of his way and 
there was no doubt that he was exploring it with 
ulterior designs. Iberville had entered the harbor 
by the assistance of an old fisherman who lived 
well down the bay, and he spent from four to 
six weeks making soundings until, as he wrote the 
Minister, he could " easily enter without a pilot." 
Having completed his work without disturbance, he 
detached a Jesuit to carry despatches overland to 
Canada and himself sailed for France. Here he 
was so ill that for weeks he was unable to make his 
report to the Minister. At length in October he 
began to improve, and his report was sent in. 

The Cabinet agreed from necessity and without 
enthusiasm that Louisiana must be occupied. They 
were unable to rise to the heights reached by La 
Salle and Iberville, who saw the opportunity in 
their very hands to secure to France a dominion 



THE RED RIVER EXPEDITION 201 

illimitable in extent and incalculably wealthy, as 
well as a definite means of checking the growing 
power of the aggressive English. The Cabinet felt 
none of this ; they saw only the present, and unless 
a profitable return could be promised that would 
immediately fill the empty coffers of the King, the 
undertaking did not appeal to them. They doubtless 
believed that they were pouring out a vast treasure 
that could better be employed nearer home than in 
those countries from which, as they now felt, the 
reports had been over-enthusiastic. "Meanwhile, as 
the river is at least eight hundred leagues in length 
and flows through a beautiful country from which 
great riches can ultimately be drawn, it will be 
necessary to guard the mouth." From this post also 
it was thought it would be easy to reach the Spanish 
mines in New Mexico. Pontchartrain finally ad- 
mitted, as the conclusion of his cautious report, that 
it was necessary to bar the road to the English on 
the east. 

While Iberville was receiving such meticulous and 
half-hearted support from his Government, Peter the 
Great about the same time (1703) laid the foundations 
of St. Petersburg. He began with a barren and un- 
cultivated island which in Winter was a frozen swamp 
and in Summer a heap of mud into which there was 
no entry except through pathless forests and deep 
morasses haunted only by wolves and bears. Clear- 
ing the forests, draining the marshes, and raising the 



202 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

banks, he converted this desolate and uninviting spot 
in three years into a thriving seaport of one hundred 
and fifty thousand people resting on the edge of 
the harbor, which was filled with shipping. If Louis 
XIV had supported Iberville even to the extent of 
permitting him to bring to his colony the hundreds 
of thousands of Huguenots who were eager to leave 
France, this numerous and industrious French popu- 
lation would have taken possession of the Mississippi 
Valley to its remote tributaries, Iberville's problem 
would have solved itself, and the future of America 
would have experienced an inconceivable change. 



CHAPTER XV 

AFFAIRS OF STATE IN FRANCE AND SPAIN — 
THE COLONY MOVES TO MOBILE 

IBERVILLE now began preparations for a third 
and larger expedition. He intended to execute 
thoroughly the plan of blocking the English 
by a line of interior forts before resuming his more 
congenial method of frontal attack. Meanwhile 
some interesting events were taking place in Europe 
which were destined quite definitely to influence his 
designs. In some ways these changes advanced, nay, 
even hurried his plans, while in others obstacles 
arose which seriously affected the Louisiana question. 
King William of England at this time was earnestly 
beset by interested parties who demanded assistance 
in taking possession of the territory visited by Cap- 
tain Banks. Among the most urgent was the son 
of Daniel Coxe, the man who had borne the principal 
expense of that expedition. Aid was promised, but 
before it could be furnished an event occurred which 
demanded the undivided attention of both England 
and France. The colonies were forgotten and buried 
out of sight in the selfish interests of the Mother 
Countries. 



204 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

Early in 1700 the King of Spain lay dying and 
several princes laid claim to the succession. The 
King's eldest sister had married Louis XIV. The 
Dauphin therefore in the common course of inheri- 
tance would have succeeded to the throne, but Louis 
and the Infanta at the time of their espousals had 
solemnly renounced for herself and her heirs all 
claim to the Spanish Crown. Soon after the Peace 
of Ryswick, William III and Louis XIV, without 
consulting the King of Spain, had drawn up a treaty 
of partition and settled the succession on the Prince 
of Bavaria, the son of a younger sister of King 
Charles of Spain. Charles, anxious to avoid dis- 
memberment of the empire, made a will also leaving 
the Crown to the Prince of Bavaria. The ink on 
these various instruments was hardly dry when the 
Prince of Bavaria died. Louis and William again 
drew up a partition treaty which settled the succes- 
sion upon the Archduke Charles, second son of the 
Emperor of Germany, and satisfied the various other 
claimants and their friends by presenting them with 
selected portions of the Spanish possessions. In spite 
of the secrecy with which it was drawn, intelligence 
of the second partition treaty reached Madrid, where 
it roused to momentary energy the languishing ruler 
of a languishing State. A wave of wrath swept over 
Spain, and the dying King instructed his ambassadors 
to remonstrate at the Courts of England and France, 
while simultaneously he dismissed the ambassadors 



AFFAIRS OF STATE 206 

of England and Holland, which States either he held 
most at fault or feared least. When at length he 
was at the point of death, he yielded to the influences 
about him and made another will which remained 
secret during the rest of his life. November 1, 1700, 
he died. All Madrid crowded to the palace. The 
gates were thronged. The antechamber was filled 
with ambassadors and grandees eager to learn what 
disposition had been made of the Crown. At length 
the folding doors were flung open. The Duke of 
Abrantis came forth and announced that the whole 
Spanish monarchy was bequeathed to Philip, Duke 
of Anjou, the son of the Dauphin. 

With hardly a moment of hesitation, Louis XIV 
broke his obligation in the treaty of partition as well 
as that made at his marriage, and accepted for his 
grandson the splendid legacy of Charles. The in- 
difference of the English people as well as the un- 
popularity of William and his ambitions would have 
made this course perfectly safe if pride or passion 
had not urged Louis to go farther. Just at this 
crisis, the most important in his life, he committed 
an error which undid all that forty years of victory 
and intrigue had accomplished, and produced the dis- 
memberment of the kingdom of his grandson, and 
brought invasion, bankruptcy, and famine on his own. 
James II died at St. Germain, and Louis acknowl- 
edged his son King of England. The indignation 
which the Castilians had felt when they heard that 



206 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

three foreign powers had undertaken to regulate the 
Spanish succession was nothing to the rage with 
which the English learned that their good neighbor 
Louis had undertaken to provide them with a King. 
The English rushed to arms as one man, and the 
War of the Spanish Succession had begun. 

The ever sensitive Spanish pride had been greatly 
outraged by the treatment which that nation had 
received by interference in America, and they lost no 
opportunity of showing their resentment. The hang- 
ing of Verrazzano, the navigator, captured in 1528, 
and taken to Porto Rico charged with trespassing on 
Spanish territory ; and the sickening murder of Jean 
Ribaut with one hundred and fifty of his disarmed 
and shackled companions by Menendez in 1565, are 
but two of the numerous instances which attest only 
too well the rigorous interpretation of the Spanish 
claims in the New World. Obliged to yield many 
of their pretensions, they retired inch by inch until 
the Gulf of Mexico remained as their final stronghold. 
Seignelay had also seen, in the discovery of the mouth 
of the Mississippi in the Gulf, a means whereby a post 
could be established that would serve as a protection 
to the French in peace, as a base in case of war, and 
ultimately result in the expulsion of the Spanish. 
A part of this the Spaniards also saw and feared. 
La Salle had been hunted up and down the coast by 
a hundred men under De Leon, but the wreck of the 
ships and the cunningly hidden camp on Matagorda 



AFFAIRS OF STATE 207 

Bay had led them to believe that the French had all 
been destroyed, until, on pushing up to Cenis, two 
Frenchmen were captured and sent to Spain, at 
which time the truth was discovered about La Salle. 
The Viceroy thereupon decided to plant a post at La 
Salle's camp on Matagorda Bay (Fort St. Louis), and 
in 1690 the St. Francis of Assisi Mission was estab- 
lished with one hundred and ten men. The King of 
Spain then ordered that all the Indians of Texas 
should be reduced to obedience. This apparently 
simple subjugation was finally accomplished by 
United States troops under General Miles in 1886, 
two hundred years later. 

Governor Galva of Coahuila and of Texas (1691) 
went with fifty soldiers and seven priests to establish 
posts on Red River, at Natchez, and on Guadalupe 
River, but owing to crop failures and Indian hostility 
they were abandoned (1693). The capture of Vera 
Cruz by the filibusters, the expedition against Car- 
thagena (1697) following the plans of La Salle, with 
other similar happenings, did not cause the Spanish 
to relish France for a neighbor. Then a plan came 
to light in which the Spaniards purposed capturing 
San Domingo, and the French realized that something 
must be done to make the Indies safe. The Peace 
of Ryswick seemed to satisfy for a time. 

After the death of Charles II of Spain that nation 
very naturally looked to France for the protection 
of the new King against the ambitions of other 



208 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

States. It was under such conditions that Louis 
dreamed of occupying Louisiana, and Iberville in the 
new war saw for himself an opportunity to execute 
some of his long-maturing designs against the English. 
Iberville had sailed and returned, had sailed and 
returned, and was about to sail again. He recog- 
nized how thoroughly his projects annoyed the Span- 
ish, for they could not conceal it. The Spanish 
ships at Pensacola which he had found during his 
first voyage had gone there, as he fully believed, on 
advices from Europe so as to be the first on the 
ground. This idea had also occurred to Beaujeu, as 
one recalls his objections to the first Iberville expe- 
dition. The Spanish had made quick protest against 
the settlement at Biloxi; nevertheless the French 
had given food to the Spanish fleet in the first voy- 
age and succored the shipwrecked Governor in the 
second. Relying upon these evidences of French 
favor and the Spanish desire for protection, Pont- 
chartrain wished to profit by the circumstances to 
induce Spain to give up Pensacola to France, — 
otherwise the Minister intended to send Iberville to 
occupy Mobile, this being in his opinion a more suit- 
able site for a fort than the mouth of the Mississippi. 
The negotiations however were not easy, and much 
time was consumed, so that upon Iberville's return 
from his second trip Pontchartrain requested him to 
frame a memorial that would aid in bringing Spain 
to terms. 



AFFAIRS OF STATE 209 

The face of Iberville as seen in his portrait reveals 
a high intelligence joined to the decision of a soldier. 
This double character we know, but his correspond- 
ence at this time shows something more, — a politic 
spirit which well understood the scheme of things 
which he was preparing for America and which he 
was destined to inaugurate. The manner of announc- 
ing it is notable. He completed his memoir in three 
weeks while at Paris in January, 1701. It had for 
its' object to prove that the Spanish should not take 
offence at the Mississippi colony since those colonies 
protected New Spain against England. He prepared 
a plan of campaign to resist if possible the encroach- 
ments of the English in America. He reiterated his 
previous prophecies in regard to the English advance 
and made deductions from what he had already seen. 
The English from Virginia had armed the Chicka- 
saws with guns and joined with them in pursuit of 
neighboring peoples, in particular the Colapissas. 
They had sent away the prisoners to be sold as slaves 
and kept the children for slaves of their own. He 
felt sure that if present tendencies were not changed 
the English in forty or fifty years would occupy all 
the territory up to the Mississippi, which he says is 
" the most beautiful country in all the world." 

" They will have the power in connection with the Indians 
to make themselves masters of all America and the greater 
part of Mexico, and all can be accomplished before it is 
even known in France and Spain that such an action is 

14 



210 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

contemplated. While the country now occupied is exten- 
sive, that is no reason against preventing the ruin of the 
colonies of France and Spain in America and, above all, 
Mexico, by throwing a good colony promptly into the 
vicinity of the Mississippi that empties into the Gulf, to 
occupy Mobile and to hinder the progress of the English." 

Iberville showed also why the Spanish posts at Apa- 
lachicola, St. Augustine and Pensacola in Florida, at 
St. Bernard, and with the Cenis in Texas, would not 
suffice to preserve their possessions against the en- 
croachment of the English. The redoubtable warrior 
was learning the tricks of statecraft. " If the Span- 
ish do not consent," he writes, " and this can only 
arise from ignorance or obstinacy, I will erect a for- 
tification at Mobile, make peace with the Chickasaws, 
and arm them against their neighbors." 

This memorial was presented by the Spanish am- 
bassador to the Junta, who replied that they could 
not permit strangers to settle at Pensacola, as that 
would give them the means, if they increased, of 
disturbing the most fertile country in New Spain and 
also the navigation between Vera Cruz and Havana. 
The Junta added, with characteristic pride, that the 
English colonies were not so dangerous as those of 
Iberville, and in respect to the French colony on the 
Mississippi, a territory belonging to Spain, they hoped 
that Louis XIV would soon order his commanders to 
receive the patents of his Most Catholic Majesty, who 
ought to hold them for his own subjects. 



AFFAIRS OF STATE 211 

This was the meeting of June 6, 1701. In that of 
June 21 the Junta declared that the King of Spain 
had the power of uniting to his colonies and under 
his protection those which the French had usurped 
on the Mississippi Kiver, which was the greatest or- 
nament of his crown. One of the counsellors re- 
marked that he could not submit to having any other 
nation occupy those posts or shores which had been 
intrusted solely to Spain by Pope Alexander VI under 
pain of excommunication. 

Pontchartrain, urging the justice of his claim and 
invoking the bonds that held the two nations, con- 
cluded, nevertheless, that Louis XIV would not aban- 
don his settlements on the Mississippi River, which 
he could conduct with as good title as in Canada, 
and even if it were true that the Spanish descended 
the river, they had made no colonies there. 

The young Minister had in fact gone beyond the 
stage of negotiation, and toward the end of 1701 was 
sending Iberville to occupy Mobile, since he could not 
obtain possession of Pensacola. Besides being the 
better site for a colony. Mobile was a better base 
from which to watch the Spanish. Taking posses- 
sion of this post he regarded as an act of force, but 
not of violence. 

This was the time which Iberville chose again to 
urge his plan for the attack on Boston and New York. 
After a general description of the topographical feat- 
ures of the country which shows his familiarity with 



212 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

his subject, he presents in exhaustive detail that de- 
sign lost at sea which was referred to on an earlier 
page.* " The essential point," he says, " is to get 
possession of Boston, but there are many risks and 
obstacles to be encountered." 

Referring to a similar plan presented by the Mar- 
quis de Nesmond, he adds : 

" Nothing seems difficult to persons without experience, 
but unless we are prepared to raise a large and costly arma- 
ment our only hope is in surprise. We should make the 
attack in winter, while the seafaring population is absent 
and the mechanics who are left are ill prepared for fighting 
and not expecting an enemy. One thousand Canadians, 
four hundred regulars, and as many Indians should leave 
Quebec in November, ascend the Chaudiere, cross the 
height of land, and descend the Kennebec. Boston should 
be approached with the utmost secrecy under cover of the 
forest and carried by night attack. This should be easy, as 
they have no standing army and no discipline." 

New York, he thinks, would not only refuse to aid, 
but would rejoice to see the fall of her rival, Boston ; 
" then it in turn can be attacked." 

" Surprise," " winter campaign," " night attack," 
how familiar these sound to one who has followed his 
operations ! How thoroughly characteristic, as well, 
is his reliance upon his trusty Canadians ! Who, to 
be sure, could lead such an expedition to success but 
Iberville ? He says : 

• See p. 94. 



AFFAIRS OF STATE 213 

" A man who makes it a point of honor to accomplish 
what he undertakes, manages so as to adopt the best meas- 
ures. I maintain that in carrying out that project, which 
appears highly problematical, it is impossible to take the 
place [Boston] except with a considerable body of troops 
and an armament such as I describe, and I maintain that 
the only means to become master of it by land is to sur- 
prise it, by conducting troops thither across the woods and 
the unfrequented places. My experience in Canada and 
its strength leaves me no doubt that it can furnish eighteen 
hundred men capable of undergoing the fatigue necessary 
to be endured in order to penetrate into Boston across 
woods and rivers. This opinion will appear impossible to 
many oflficers whose rank and seniority would lead them to 
expect the command of this affair, and I doubt not but they 
will oppose it ; not feeling strong enough to put themselves 
at the head of a detachment which is to be conducted with 
the utmost vigor, they will not fail to impress as much as 
possible that summer would be best adapted for executing 
this design. If persons capable of enduring fatigue of so 
trying a war are put at the head of vigorous young men, I 
make bold to say, there is no need of managing the enemy 
in that country ; that effective war consists in the most 
active and prompt operations, and that marching against 
the enemy with drums beating has always afforded them 
time to withdraw into places of security. 

" Those who draw up plans in expectation of seeing 
others execute them, give themselves little concern whether 
success will attend their views. They propose nothing but 
what I am willing to execute. If attention is paid to the 
success attendant on all my projects, it will be seen that I 
have succeeded at Hudson's Bay, at Castor in the capture 
of Pemaquid, Newfoundland, and finally in the discovery 
of the Mississippi, where my predecessors have failed. If 
my memorials be reexamined, it will be seen that I have 



214 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

submitted nothing but what was correct and what I have 
adhered to, I hope the memoir which I now submit re- 
specting Boston will not be less digested, and I doubt 
whether success can be otherwise gained. I repeat that 
few persons are so well qualified as I to succeed herein, for 
I am persuaded that every one in Canada, whether French- 
man or Indian, will feel a pleasure in following me, 
and that the officers will evince no difficulty, being com- 
manded by a gentleman of that Navy from which they are 
detached." 

Impracticable as it probably was, the above me- 
morial to the Minister exhibits the tenacity of pur- 
pose, the resolution, and the strong national feeling 
which animated Iberville. In this proposal made at 
a time when he had barely recovered from a long 
and dangerous illness, he invited hardships which 
seasoned officers, as he says, would shrink from un- 
dertaking. What he promises, that is, what he sets 
out to accomplish, he certainly performs, and that 
too without the beating of drums or the blowing of 
trumpets. He inspires the feeling that his plan, 
impossible as it seems, might have succeeded only 
too well from the sheer force of the leader's iron 
determination. Nothing ever resulted from these 
plans, and Iberville soon took up another when the 
opportunity presented, which required activity by 
sea. 

Owing to his illness, Iberville had hitherto been 
unable to return to the colony which he was eagerly 
building, but he had sent supplies in the Enflammee, 



AFFAIRS OF STATE 215 

which arrived in May, 1700. These stores, however, 
were only temporary in character and not sufficient 
in quantity, and were to be followed by another ship- 
ment. Again in a few months the Pelican appeared 
with supplies in which the thoughtful care of the 
Commander was everywhere apparent. He was still 
far from well, but nevertheless he made arrangements 
for a new expedition in the vessels at his disposal. 
Having waited until the last moment for the return 
of the Enjiammee or word from the Junta, he at 
length decided to sail. His ships were ready, and, 
taking command of the Renommee again with the 
Palmier under his brother Serigny, they took their 
departure, arriving at Pensacola November 24, 1701. 
Here they learned of the death of Sauvole, and in 
turn gave the joyful information to the Spanish of 
the accession of the Duke of Anjou to the throne of 
Spain. The Spanish Commander begged Iberville to 
delay his project at least until he could secure advices 
from Vera Cruz, but this was refused. Iberville said 
he had only two months to stay on the coast, which 
was little enough time for the proper execution of 
his orders, and that the work must proceed. A boat 
was sent to Biloxi with orders to Bienville to trans- 
port everything to Mobile. Serigny and Chateau- 
guay met them with men and materials from Pensa- 
cola, and then a large party advanced up the Bay to 
take possession in the name of the King. Iberville 
himself did not go to Mobile at first, being confined 



216 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

to bed by an abscess in his side from which he had 
suffered ever since leaving San Domingo. His effi- 
ciency, however, in this instance was not greatly 
diminished. Everj^ day his orders went out, now 
for building the royal magazines on Massacre Island 
and locating the new establishment on Mobile Bay,* 
then to send reinforcements to the workmen, or to 
direct the construction of flatboats. The success 
of the Commander's plans at Mobile was largely 
due to the careful attention of his brothers, Serigny, 
Bienville, and Chateauguay, who enforced their exe- 
cution with all the vigorous spirit of the family. f 
Tonty, who had been compelled by royal order to 
abandon Fort St. Louis on the Illinois River, now 
came down to join Iberville, who sent him as ambas- 
sador to the Chickasaws and Choctaws with instruc- 
tions if possible to bring some of the chiefs down to 
Mobile for general council. 

The port at Mobile had excellent depth of water 
for vessels, was well protected from the winds, and 
more defensible than Pensacola. On March 3 Iber- 
ville felt well enough to make a visit to the fort, and, 
taking the Palmier with the last cargo of provisions, 
he sailed through the little channel south of Massacre 
Island, of which he had learned from a Spanish pilot. 

• The settlement was located upon or near Dog River. 

t Gabriel Le Moyne d'Assigny, at this time twenty years of age, 
accompanied his brother on this expedition, but owing to illness he 
remained at San Domingo, where he died before Iberville's return. — < 
De Lisle, quoted by Heinrich. 



AFFAIRS OF STATE 217 

As the Palmier went through the channel, Iberville 
remarked that the difficult entrance would make it 
easy to defend, but he feared a strong south wind 
might shift the bar at the mouth and close the chan- 
nel, — an event which happened just as he predicted, 
about twenty years later. Crossing the bay and as- 
cending the river, he found Bienville in the midst of 
operations, clearing the forest, building a boat and 
the fort. He was greatly delighted with the site se- 
lected for the fort. It had been beautifully chosen, 
on a bluff raised more than twenty feet from the 
water and covered with a thick growth of white and 
red oak, laurels, sassafras, and other Southern woods, 
but especially favored with pines suitable for masts. 
He took advantage of the latter endowment to replace 
in the Palmier a mast lost on the recent voyage. 
Bienville was sent by Iberville to explore the bay and 
take soundings. He began with the small islands, and 
on one he found five figures — a man, woman, child, 
bear, and owl — which the Indians worshipped. These 
images he took to his brother, much to the astonish- 
ment of the Indians, who expected to see his temerity 
severely punished. Iberville thought the figures 
might be the work of the Spanish under De Soto, and 
carried them with him to France. Thirty miles 
above the fort were the Mobile Indians, and five or 
six miles beyond them the villages of the Tohomes 
were scattered along the islands and banks of the river 
in small groups. These were the Indians who by their 



218 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

industry and frugality furnished the French with the 
food which many times saved them from starvation. 

Iberville now drew the alignments of the future 
city and marked out the allotments. The four fami- 
lies he had brought with him were located and started 
to clear their land. Messengers from Tonty then 
came in, announcing the speedy arrival of the Choc- 
taw and Chickasaw chiefs whom he had gone to visit 
and convert to French interests. They arrived at 
night, and the next morning were assembled by Bien- 
ville, who acted as interpreter for his brother. Iber- 
ville felicitated them on their desire for peace, and 
warned them against the ruinous designs of the Eng- 
lish, who armed tribe against tribe until all were 
exterminated. He gave them many presents as an 
aid in convincing them, and painted in glowing colors 
the benefits to be derived from the French alliance, 
threatening them besides that he would arm the 
neighboring tribes against them if they made trouble. 
They were easily convinced by the combination of ar- 
gument, bribe, and menace. Iberville calculated this 
would mean about two thousand Chickasaws and four 
thousand Choctaws allied to the Crown of France. 
The friendship of these tribes was very necessary, 
since, like the Iroquois, they occupied a very important 
strategic position between the French and English 
colonists. Upon their return Iberville sent Canadians 
with them to locate trading stations near their vil- 
lages. Letters were also sent through them to Quebec, 



AFFAIRS OF STATE 219 

asking for missionaries to be located among them for 
the salvation of their souls — and France. Well satis- 
fied with his work, Iberville returned on the next day 
to the frigate, thence to Pensacola, and on April 29 
he sailed for France. With him too went Le Sueur, 
who had returned from his adventurous trip up the 
Mississippi with his two-masted felucca and twenty- 
five men. He had reached Lake Pepin after many 
hardships. Thence he moved to Blue Earth River, 
where he built a stockade and spent the Winter of 
1700-1701 killing buffalo and trading with the Sioux. 
He returned bringing a load of earth stained blue 
with silicate of iron which he thought was valuable 
ore. His felucca was the first decked and shipbuilt 
vessel to sail on the upper Mississippi. 

When Iberville sailed, it was with the full intent to 
return to his colony the following year, but this was 
the last time his colony or his brother was to behold 
him. His destiny approached its accomplishment. 

Nevertheless the proud, ambitious Iberville flung 
himself unsparingly against the obstacles of Nature with 
the same high courage with which he smote his English 
foes. Sick but unsubdued, toiling feverishly amid the 
canebrakes and cypress swamps of tropical Louisiana, 
he developed his drama, in a gloom that was lighted 
only by occasional gleams of the courtly splendors at 
Versailles, while in the imminent background, over the 
swiftly spinning strands, the inexorable Sisters bent 
with watchful eyes and ever ready shears. 



CHAPTER XVI 

FURTHER PROJECTS AGAINST THE ENGLISH — 
DEATH OF IBERVILLE 

THE return of Iberville to France in 1702 was 
very different from that of 1700. His suc- 
cess was quite vexatious to Beaujeu, who 
frankly said so in his letter to Villeraont. The 
Spanish, contrary to the prognostics of Beaujeu, 
had not interfered with the French colonies. This, 
however, was largely due to the wisdom and tact 
with which Iberville had managed them, as well as 
the impression which they quickly received that he 
was a man of ability and determination whom it was 
not safe to arouse. The evident commercial value 
of the new territory also awakened much interest. 
Thus Thoynard * showed a more than casual curi- 
osity in this phase of the work, and questioned 
Iberville very closely on the general appearance 
and products of the country. Speaking of Mobile, 
Iberville wrote Thoynard about the beauty of the 
surrounding country, the fertility of the soil, the 

♦ Thoynard had awaited the return of Iberville with the utmost 
impatience. Serigny promised to send him news immediately, but 
he was ordered to Hudson Bay before the arrival of the frigates. 



FURTHER PROJECTS AGAINST THE ENGLISH 221 

depth of water in the harbor, and his friendly re- 
lations with the Indians. He says also : 

" I have built a fort seventy leagues above Mobile, about 
ten leagues from the Chickasaws, and eight leagues from 
the Choctaws, where Tonty commands with twenty men. 
At present we are masters of nearly twenty-four thousand 
Indians, of whom eighteen thousand are within one hundred 
and fifty leagues of the fort, and by horse we can commu- 
nicate in twelve days with the Illinois Indians, and in only 
twenty days could reach Maryland and Virginia." 

Thoynard, however, was more curious about the 
commercial possibilities than the military advan- 
tages, and he desires to know how much copper 
and lead Le Sueur brought down with him, and its 
character, and whether it had been found super- 
ficially or deep. He inquires if silkworms had 
been seen, if he had planted corn, and if so if it 
came up and when, and if any attempt had been 
made to domesticate the buffalo. Iberville had 
developed many views on the commercial possibil- 
ities of Louisiana which personal observations had 
inspired, fortified by his knowledge of the savages 
and their activities in time of peace. He figured 
that from 16,000 to 24,000 cattle skins and 500 
deer skins which he proposed bringing over ought 
to return more than 2,500,000 fr., besides which 
one could get from four to five pounds of good 
wool from each hide at 20 sous, and two pounds 
of hair at 10 sous, while the skins of other animals 



222 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

like bear, wolves, wildcats, foxes, and martens 
would bring at least 200,000 livres, which under 
conditions then present would bring the King more 
than 250,000 livres in customs. As usual, the idea 
of commerce kept rhythmic pace with the enlarge- 
ment of the boundaries. 

Iberville, beguiling the opposition of the Spanish, 
had marked the boundaries in the east, as La Salle 
with his blood had consecrated them in the west. 
The French colony was a wedge between the Eng- 
lish and Spanish colonies as in La Salle's time, 
but the policy of France at the two epochs was 
widely different. La Salle had entered the Mis- 
sissippi Valley as an enemy of Spain, following the 
traditions of French politics since the era of Fran- 
cis I, while Iberville had located himself as the 
ostensible and even ostentatious friend and auxiliary 
of Spain. Meanwhile he gradually diverted the 
Spanish Indians to the French posts and the Spanish 
commerce of Havana, Pensacola, and Vera Cruz to 
French ports. 

It is unquestionably true that by early education 
and environment Iberville had acquired a strong an- 
tagonism to the English that was racial as well as 
temperamental, and this had been intensified by his 
many conflicts with them. It is possible that this 
antagonism had forced upon him the idea of com- 
bining with the Spanish to resist English aggres- 
sion, but there is no reason to believe that he 



FURTHER PROJECTS AGAINST THE ENGLISH 223 

would have maintained such an allegiance longer 
than was desirable from a French standpoint, nor 
that he would not have opposed the Spanish as 
readily as the English if they had not shown 
themselves more tractable in his skilful hands. 
But while adroitly managing the supercilious and 
decadent Spanish as policy demanded, he never 
for a moment forgot his more vigorous and dan- 
gerous foes, the English. Hence we see him again 
at work on his scheme for the fortification of the 
interior with a chain of forts which were to be 
placed at the mouth of the Mississippi, at the mouth 
of the Arkansas, and one each on the Ohio and 
Missouri Rivers. This he thought would prevent 
the Anglo-Indian alliances and the English attempts 
at colonization. In connection with this plan he 
also developed a scheme for moving the tribes from 
their various homes to establishments that he would 
select as most advantageous for their concentration, 
and thus constitute formidable foci of antagonism 
to the English. He calculated that in this way an 
army properly equipped of about 12,000 Indians 
could be kept at hand, and a descent on the Eng- 
lish colonies would always be possible. He hoped 
too that he might enlist the interest of the Indians 
by furnishing them with goods at a lower price 
than the English could do, since in the absence of 
water highways it would be necessary for their goods 
to be brought across the mountains on horses. 



224 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

Thus he would safeguard Canada, Acadia, and, 
by the same token, Mexico, by his establishment 
in Louisiana, — at least Mexico would be open only 
to the French. In this plan he recognized the 
fundamental differences between the English and 
the French, — the English as agriculturists, attached 
to the soil and spreading by continuity ; the French, 
traders over vast territories, roaming and wishing 
to roam, culling the richest and choicest of the 
products, but gradually pressed aside by the steady, 
relentless encroachment of the English. Quite nat- 
urally, however, he did not realize that this funda- 
mental difference was fatal to the ultimate success 
of his theory. 

Meanwhile Canada felt an increasing hostility to 
his projects which blazed forth in 1703 when it was 
expected that Iberville would be made Governor- 
General of the new colony. They complained that 
he diverted the trade in beaver to Louisiana.* 
They insinuated in Quebec and even in his home at 
Montreal that he sought only his own advantage at 
their expense, and so they sent their emissaries to 
antagonize his plans among the Indians, and at the 
same time these agents were instructed to conceal 
themselves from him and not see him lest they be 
corrupted. All who approached him or were asso- 
ciated with him, even his brothers and friends in 
Canada, were suspected of being bound to his in- 

* Callieres to the Minister. 



FURTHER PROJECTS AGAINST THE ENGLISH 225 

terest, and his friends complained to him of the 
humiliation and indignity which his plans drew 
upon them. Even Maricourt, who had just negoti- 
ated an advantageous peace with the Iroquois, was 
not free from reproach. 

Thus Iberville, while inheriting the unfinished 
plans of La Salle, also inherited the hostile senti- 
ment of the Canadians, though to a less serious 
degree, because he made friends more easily and 
the antagonism was not complicated by the hatred 
of the religious orders. It is noticeable, too, that 
there is always a spirit of jealousy aroused against 
those who establish themselves in the interior or 
nearer the founts of trade. Quebec was jealous of 
Montreal, and both were jealous of the pioneers 
on the lakes, in the Mississippi Valley, and in 
Louisiana. The Canadian hostility had become more 
marked since 1701, when the King, replying to an 
inquiry of Governor Callieres, had said that it was 
his intention to maintain Louisiana as a separate 
colony, since it seemed easier and speedier to govern 
it direct than via Quebec. To Iberville it seemed 
quite rational that the St. Lawrence basin should 
constitute one colony and the Mississippi River Valley 
another, since the commerce as a means of economy 
should be by water from the mouth of each river 
to the interior. At the same time Ducasse and 
San Domingo were antagonized by the same means 
and for the same reason as Callieres and Canada. 

15 



226 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

Thus a web of jealousy, envy, dissimulation, self- 
interest, anger, and wounded pride was gradually 
woven to restrain the activities of the great Canadian 
and to minimize the results. 

Nicholas de la Salle,* the commissary of the King 
at Mobile, was engaged most actively in bring- 
ing accusations against the "league of brothers," 
whose constant success and growing influence aroused 
his spiteful animosity. Neither mechanical obstacles 
nor accusations against their characters were spared. 
As for Iberville, he complained only of those who 
impugned the honesty of his intentions. He asked 
if he ought to be treated like an Englishman or 
other enemy of his country, and if it was right that 
his relatives and friends should be made to suffer 
on his account. He was particularly sensitive to 
those attacks from Canada, in whose behalf he had 
toiled terribly and toward which his heart ever 
turned as home. He felt keenly that the Canadians 
belittled him when the colonies clashed by contrast- 
ing their liberality with his poverty. These attacks, 
however, by men of no name or standing, have left 
few traces save only the memory of the obstacles 
he had to encounter, and his perseverance in the 
midst of miseries and perfidies more cruel and often 
harder to bear than his physical trials as a soldier 

* Nicholas de la Salle was not related to Robert Cavalier, although 
associated with him. He wrote a memoir in 1685 on the discoveries 
of the latter. 




Portion of De Lisle's Carte dk Louisiana, 1718 

{Original in possession of Chicago Historical Society) 



Shows (a) De Soto's wanderiu 



gs in 1540 ; {!,) La Salle's landiner'' '"'^ ]""rney to the interior, and place of his death ; (c) Tonty's jouruey to theChickf 
jyj-jggj^jippi River below New Orleans; {(■) route of Eienville from Tensas''^illage to Bed Riv 



theOhickasaws ; (t/) the old forts at Biloxi, ou Mobile Bay, and on the 



9 -i 



FURTHER PROJECTS AGAINST THE ENGLISH 227 

and seaman. Whatever was alleged against his 
person, they must admit the more prominent fact 
that he accomplished much. Whether, as charged, 
he had affairs apart from those of the King is not 
known, but it is known that he acquired renown, 
extended the power of France, and commenced 
the work of colonization in the South. His means 
were modest, for, in spite of great efforts, the 
little colony had only sixty-four Canadians, where 
he wished to bring one hundred and fifty families, 
which he thought would suffice until peace would 
permit him to do more. From 1700 his health had 
been profoundly affected. He suffered intensely 
and almost constantly with rheumatism, besides 
which he had had one attack of yellow fever and 
a dangerous abscess which required an operation. 
His illness had been so severe that he had been 
unable to return to the colony in 1703, but sent 
the Loire with seventeen passengers, 60,000 livres 
of money, and provisions and stores for the colony, 
promising to come himself on the Pelican in Sep- 
tember. In this year also he prepared an expedition 
consisting of the Pelican, the Renommee, and a 
small frigate to attack the Virginian coast, but, 
owing to European complications, as appears from 
a letter of Pontchartrain, the project had to be 
abandoned. 

The Pelican arrived in Louisiana again in the 
Summer of 1704, but again without the Commander, 



228 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

though his personal care and interest were in evi- 
dence in every part of the cargo, which included 
French girls as wives for the restless Canadians, 
whom Iberville hoped thereby to domesticate and 
anchor to the colony. But besides such blessings as 
live stock, food, and merchandise, the ship also 
brought the curse of yellow fever from San Domingo, 
and this slew two-thirds of the colonists, among 
whom was the efficient, loyal, gallant Tonty. Iber- 
ville himself had never recovered entirely from his 
fever. In February, 1704, he was again summoned 
to Paris, and was there assigned to his long-desired 
expedition against the English colonial coast. With 
high courage he set about his preparations in spite 
of his fever, but he became so ill that the expedi- 
tion was again abandoned. His life was despaired 
of. His brother Serigny and his wife hastened to 
his side, and under their loving care he began to im- 
prove slowly. But neither the continued misfortune 
that seemed to attend this particular expedition 
nor his own personal suffering in any measure 
abated the eagerness of his temperament. When he 
had nearly recovered, he announced to the Cabinet 
his readiness to make an attack on his old enemies, 
the English, in the Barbadoes and other western 
islands. 

This was but a part of his general scheme toward 
securing French dominion in the Mississippi Valley 
and upon the Gulf. His previous experience with 



FURTHER PROJECTS AGAINST THE ENGLISH 229 

the English inspired him with confidence, while 
his coolness and intrepidity, united to his great 
sagacity and growing political force, made him a 
dominant factor that might easily give rise to that 
groundless suspicion, more than once mentioned, 
that he wished to create a Government of his own 
in connection with his league of brothers, the Cana- 
dian Maccabees. Much glory, to be sure, had come 
to him, but, in the way of actual compensation, very 
little. Though he had not yet received his com- 
mission, he had been made the first Governor-General 
of Louisiana, an appointment which made him 
Commander-in-Chief of all the French possessions 
on the Gulf and north along the Mississippi to the 
ill-defined boundaries of New France. This com- 
prised practically all of the vast territory which 
the United States subsequently acquired by the 
Louisiana Purchase. This, in addition to his titles 
Chevalier de St. Louis (1699) and Capitaine de 
Vaisseau (1702), gave him much honor, but he 
still felt the need of an income that would provide 
for his own necessities and those of his family and 
dependants ; so he asked for the title of Count 
with a definite salary and for permission to enter 
the slave trade. In thanking the King for his 
last honor, he delicately inquired why the services 
of his brother Maricourt in negotiating the im- 
portant Iroquois treaty had not been recognized 
in some way. The query was not answered, and 



230 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

beyond the inadequate and unremunerative grant 
of a tract of wilderness on Chaleurs Bay in Acadia 
(1691) and the seigniory which his father re- 
ceived, neither Minister nor King ever recognized 
officially and materially the immense services ren- 
dered to France by Iberville and his family, or his 
companions in arms.* 

His latest offer to serve against the English was 
accepted, and Iberville the colonist again appears 
in the more familiar and congenial role of Iberville 
the warrior. Taking his brother Chateauguay, he 
departed with vessels and three hundred men to 
harass the English commerce and attack the English 
islands. On his way to the Barbadoes he attacked 
the islands of Nevis and St. Christopher in April, 
1706, and secured their surrender with all their 
goods, chattels, horses, cattle, and sheep, besides 
seven thousand negroes. He captured seventeen 
hundred and fifty men and thirty ships, one being 
a man-of-war and the rest armed merchantmen. All 
this immense wealth he poured into Martinique, 
his temporary place of deposit, and nearly swamped 
that little city with the sudden abundance. 

His instructions as usual were "general," and 
he now saw his way clear to make that long-delayed 
and eagerly anticipated attack upon the English 

* He had suggested that a more lasting recognition of his services 
could be effected by naming after him some portion of the country 
he had explored and developed around Mobile, but even this grati- 
fication was not accorded him. 



FURTHER PROJECTS AGAINST THE ENGLISH 231 

colonies which he had first conceived during the 
Pemaquid campaign. For a whole decade he had 
conducted his operations with this darling plan in 
his mind. Every year it had been deferred, and 
now, with his fine fleet manned by enthusiastic and 
devoted crews, with an undivided command, and a 
splendid prestige, he determined to sweep the At- 
lantic coast as clean as Hudson Bay. The oppor- 
tunity and the man stood face to face. He made 
sail westward with the intention of gathering up 
any stray vessels of the colonial merchant fleets, 
after which he purposed to ravage the coast sys- 
tematically from Charleston to Boston, whence he 
could return to Louisiana with his victorious and 
heavily laden ships. First, however, for this more 
extensive undertaking he thought to add to his 
equipment. On such an expedition it was especially 
necessary to go fully prepared. He therefore made 
a landing at Havana to take on additional supplies 
and a thousand Spanish auxiliaries. Thus Iberville 
planned, but the plans of men rest on the knees 
of the gods. His thoroughness in this instance was 
unfortunate to the last degree. His errand proved 
fatal, for an epidemic was raging, and the un- 
conquered warrior who had run the gantlet of 
twenty years of close warfare was destroyed by 
the bite of a mosquito. He died, not as a hero 
should, in the splendid hour of victory, but, with 
body poised and hand drawn back to launch the 



232 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

bolt, he was betrayed and insidiously undone. For 
twenty years he had sought a soldier's death, but 
even this reward was denied him. He fell a victim 
to the second attack of yellow fever, which in his 
already reduced health ended his life on July 9, 
1706.* 

Three months afterward his brother Le Moyne de 
Chateauguay brought the sorrowful news to Bienville 
and the little orphaned colony at Mobile. 

To the English colonists on the Atlantic seaboard 
the death of their inveterate foe brought a shudder 
of relief, while his loss was bewailed, not in France, 
to which his exploits had brought an empire, nor 
yet in his natal province of Canada, the recipient of 
his glory and the principal beneficiary of his victories, 
not in civilized communities, but rather among the 
barbarian and hostile Iroquois, who thoroughly re- 
spected and could in a measure appreciate the dom- 
inant qualities of his chieftainship; here indeed his 
demise was mourned with the pomp and ceremony 
of a tribal misfortune. 

* Ever since the attack on Pemaquid and Newfoundland it had 
been well understood among the English colonists that Iberville was 
only awaiting a favorable opportunity to ravage their coasts. When 
the news of his capture of the islands of Nevis and St. Kitts was 
brought to the colonies, the alarm spread clear to Boston, and was re- 
moved only when the subsequent rumor of his death had been confirmed. 



CHAPTER XVII 

CONCLUSION 

IBERVILLE had given his country enormous con- 
quests and had assured to commerce rich and 
varied products. He had mastered a great 
continent, and yet, as he saw death approaching 
with long strides, his only anxiety was for the 
little colony he had founded and cherished and 
many times personally supported with his own funds. 
He feared only his work might fall into incompetent 
hands. He wished the administration to have clear 
knowledge of the value of the new conquests and 
to see to it that the executives were entirely dis- 
interested. He dreamed constantly of the Louis- 
iana he had started and of its future relations 
with its enemy, the English, to whose grand 
destiny he first called attention. His eyes would 
have closed more peacefully and his anxiety been 
considerably abated had he known that for over 
forty years his capable and energetic brother 
Bienville would watch over and nourish his tiny 
settlement until he too, though at a much greater 
age, should pass out of the drama in which he had 



234 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

borne heroic part, unwept by Minister, unrewarded 
by King, and almost forgotten by his countrymen. 
Like Iberville in Hudson Bay, the very fibre of his 
being was inextricably interwoven with the history 
of Louisiana, where his glory was gained and his 
life sacrificed. 

Associated with Bienville in the development of 
the colony, the name of Le Moyne de Chateauguay 
is often found, and Le Moyne de Serigny, a "Capi- 
taine de Vaisseau," together with his son. Of all 
the remaining sons of that splendid Le Moyne 
brotherhood, Maricourt alone had stayed in Canada 
to aid and support Charles de Longueuil, the oldest 
son and heir to the barony. The others, either in 
the discharge of duty or pursuit of glory, from affec- 
tion or from Iberville's ascendancy over their minds, 
followed him to Louisiana and finally died in the 
service of the King. For seven years at a time poor 
Bienville could not even draw his salary, and yet he 
worked with the same zealous optimism as ever. 
Always he held in mind the plans and projects 
which Iberville had outlined, and hardly an emer- 
gency arose which his far-sighted brother had not 
planned to control. The secret intrigue and machina- 
tions of Nicholas la Salle gradually began to produce 
an effect, which was assisted shortly after Iberville's 
death by M. de la Vente, the recently arrived parish 
curiy who was estranged by his jealousy of the 
respect and consideration which Bienville and his 



CONCLUSION 236 

brothers had always shown to their father's old em- 
ployers the Jesuits. Nicholas la Salle, the Commis- 
sary, and De la Vente, the curi, had begun a war 
of accusation and denunciation against Iberville and 
Bienville which reminds one strongly of the old 
combination of Intendant and Jesuit against Fron- 
tenac. The attacks had begun before Iberville's death, 
when they accused him and Bienville of peculation 
and malversation in office, illicit trade in skins, and 
personal ill-treatment. M. la Salle, in writing the 
Minister, begged that the accusations be kept secret, 
since Iberville and his brothers formed a league 
which governed everything, even access to the 
Minister, and, as Iberville had sure ways of learning 
everything that transpired, they would surely inflict 
upon him all the sufferings possible if his reports 
became known. The letters became so numerous 
and the charges so specific that Pontchartrain finally 
sent out a new Commissary, M. Diron d'Artaguette, 
who was instructed to inquire into the truth of the 
charges, and if substantiated to remove Bienville 
from office and return him to France for trial and 
to demand an accounting from Iberville's heirs. 

No more fitting tribute to the long years of un- 
selfish devotion to the interests of the Crown could 
be desired than the report of d'Artaguette absolving 
the Le Moynes from all guilt and expressing admira- 
tion at their remarkable success among the adverse 
conditions in which their work was done. As for 



236 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

Iberville, not only was he brilliantly acquitted of all 
wrong-doing, but it was shown that so long as he 
lived he had sustained the colony of Louisiana with 
loans of large sums, without interest, the treasury 
not being able to furnish them, and that his ad- 
vances had greatly reduced the inheritance of his 
wife and children. 

Bienville, too, was exonerated with a glowing 
eulogy that vindicated his name forever. More 
fortunate than his brother, the value of his services 
has been recognized in the city he founded, and he 
has received a permanent place and high rank on the 
deathless page. King * says : 

" In Louisiana a slight change of the Canadian original 
is offered in the personality of the young, rude, unlettered 
Canadian, who from midshipman and Lieutenant of Ma- 
rines, had been pushed to the first place of a command ; 
whose entire character and administration constituted one 
obstinate determination to maintain and increase the grasp 
of the country left him by Iberville. Bulwarking himself 
against the Spaniards on the east, spying out their land in 
the west, fending oif the English at the north, keeping his 
channel of the Mississippi well open, scouring the Gulf 
with his little vessels, arming the Indians against one 
another and against everybody but himself, buying and 
borrowing food, quartering his men in times of dearth 
upon the Indians, recalling them at every new invoice from 
France, Havana, or Vera Cruz, marrying off the girls, 
breaking the Canadians into farmers, punishing savages, 
repressing his own bandits, building, sowing, carrying out 

* "Sieur de Bienville." 



CONCLUSION 237 

with a handful of soldiers and a pittance of money the 
great Mississippi and Gulf policy of Iberville. His ac- 
tivity and dexterity, it would seem, must have compelled 
acknowledgment even from his detractors." 

He was a worthy brother to the great Iberville, 
whose death was almost a fatal blow to his little 
colony. Bienville was not long in finding out that 
his own position was greatly weakened in the loss 
of the influence of his doughty brother. Nicholas 
de la Salle now even taunted him with his helpless- 
ness and his inability to hurt him. Pontchartrain 
also keenly felt the loss of his strong and wonderfully 
efficient aid. Finding at once that his burden was 
far too heavy, he looked about for some shoulders 
to which he might shift it, and in 1712 turned the 
Charter over to Crozat, at the same time prescribing 
therein that Iberville's scheme for the erection of 
five posts along the Mobile, Mississippi, and Ohio 
Rivers should be carried out, as well as his other idea 
that agriculture and not mining should be made the 
principal business of the colony. Since the object 
of Crozat was purely commercial, since he intended 
to do for himself what Iberville and Bienville were 
trying to do in the interests of the colony, his work 
did not succeed, and the colony, fighting, starving, 
reduced by Indian wars, but steadily growing never- 
theless, moved on toward the Mississippi bubble and 
even, in spite of that, to ultimate success. 

Iberville's colony inevitably took its destined place 



238 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

in the serried ranks of the States, while the city his 
brother founded became the metropolis of the South. 
As for Iberville himself no more romantic or pic- 
turesque character ever fought his adventurous way 
through the annals of any country, and yet his mem- 
ory is not often recalled in this commercial age. No 
records remain to throw light on many interests which 
might have concerned him. He was an energetic 
man of action, and it was doubtless much harder for 
him to write those clear, modest, unembroidered nar- 
ratives that constitute his official reports than it was 
to do the almost incredible feats reported. In geog- 
raphy he was greatly interested from the practical 
standpoint of a navigator and explorer, and his 
voyages were extremely valuable to that branch of 
science. Toward theory, abstractions, impractical 
details, and scientific speculations he had no incli- 
nation or interest, but he was a stalwart organizer, 
and he struck hard for France. Life was never a 
sport to Iberville, but a deeply earnest contest, and 
although he took a terrible joy in the thorough per- 
formance of his duties, yet his many friends in their 
constant and unswerving loyalty reveal him as the 
possessor of unusual social qualities and a rarely 
gifted personality, while his loftiness of mind and 
nobility of character preserved in his life a purity of 
intent and moral practice that was uncommon in that 
none too fastidious age. The rigor of the monastery, 
the futile self-imposed penalties of the flagellants, 



CONCIUSION 239 

were as nothing to the tasks he undertook for the 
advancement of his patriotic designs. These formed 
his life work and life interest. He professed ortho- 
dox Catholicism and was exemplary in his devotion 
to its rites and creed. His faith, however, was in his 
own strong intellect, while his belief, his inmost 
conviction, his true religion, was the blended love of 
his own country and an abiding hostility toward the 
English. These two strong passions dominated his 
life and compelled him on his career. Napoleon had 
his star which failed him but once, Nelson had his 
orb of light which was soaring in the zenith on that 
last fateful but triumphant day, and Iberville too had 
his beacons which illumined his perilous path and 
guided his restless feet. Every act in his brief ca- 
reer was a tribute to the high seriousness of his pa- 
triotism as he devoutly understood it and to his 
intense continuance of purpose. 

On land and sea, both north and south, Iberville 
had wrung his honors from the unwilling foe. The 
icy blasts of the Arctic seas, the trade winds of the 
tropics, and the balmy zephyrs of the Gulf had borne 
on their winnowing wings the leaves for his garland ; 
what La Salle fruitlessly conceived, what Fronte- 
nac helplessly saw, Iberville strenuously executed. 
" Where La Salle had ploughed, others were to sow 
the seed ; and on the path which the undespairing 
Norman had hewn out, the Canadian, d' Iberville, was 
to win for France a vast though transient dominion." 



240 SIEUR D'lEERVILLE 

Thus in his ripe manhood at the age of forty-five, 
perished Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, the 
greatest of that family of Le Moynes, whose exploits 
and inestimable services during the infancy of the 
colony have brought a glorious inheritance to the peo- 
ple of Canada. Iberville was a man in whom indom- 
itable energy, vaulting ambition, and relentlessness 
of purpose were joined with a rare executive ability 
to give him the highest qualities of leadership. He 
was the ideal of a bold, courageous, and resourceful 
commander of men who exhibited throughout a life 
of hardship the utmost limit of endurance and forti- 
tude, and, if stern to others, he was pitiless to himself. 
He had ability to plan, the strength to execute, and 
the wise statesmanship to retain and govern both on 
sea and land, and by this sheer force of character, as- 
sociated with an amiable and engaging personality, 
he rose step by step on the ladder of his achievements 
from an obscure boyhood in the frontier village of 
Montreal to the eminence of the most distinguished 
Canadian of his time and the most skilful Commander 
in the navy of France. It has been well said that if 
his great talents had been displayed on the seas and 
continent of Europe instead of in vague and distant 
portions of the New World, he would have attained 
the highest place and the greatest renown among the 
contestants on that vast, confused arena. 

Iberville's ambition was to be a conqueror, and 
conqueror he was, first on the lists of Hudson Bay, 



CONCLUSION 241 

Newfoundland, and New York, until he had reduced 
all to submission and his relentless course was inter- 
rupted by the untimely Peace of Ryswick. Then, 
with expanding wings and growing mind, he laid for 
himself a vast design in which he could explore, de- 
fend, and conquer with ruthless and untiring energy ; 
and if dreams of a nation of his own should come to 
him, located on the Gulf and extending broadly up- 
ward and outward, it would not be beyond his ambi- 
tions nor his capacity ; and the heroes of the nations 
have been made of such as he. 

So, from turmoil within and from storms without. 
Death delivered the restless, intrepid spirit of Iber- 
ville. A gallant soul passed into the unknown, the 
exalted, inspiring soul of the first great Canadian. 



THE END 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



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246 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

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Gagnon : Louis Jolliet. Quebec. 1902. 

Garxeau : History of Canada. Beauchemin et Fils, Montreal. 
1882. 

Gayarre : History of Louisiana. Hansell & Bro., New 
Orleans. 1903. 

GiROUARD : Lake St. Louis and Old Lachine. Poirier, Bes- 
sette & Co., Montreal. 1893. 

GuERiN : Les navigateurs frangais. Belin, Leprieur et Mari- 
zot, Paris. 1846. 

GuERiN : Histoire maritime de la France. Andrieux, Paris. 
1844. 

Hamilton: Colonial Mobile. Boston. 1898. 

Harisse: Discovery of North Ainerica. Henry Stevens, Lon- 
don. 1892. 

Harisse : Notes pour servir a l'histoire, a la bibliographie et 
a la cartographic de la Nouvelle-France. Tross, Paris. 
1872. 

Heinrich: La Louisiane sous la Compagnie des Indes. Guil- 
moto, Paris. 1908. 

JiRiiMiE : Relation du Detroit et de la bate d' Hudson. Ber- 
nard's Eecueil de Voiages au Nord, Amsterdam. 1724. 

JoDOiN ET Vincent : Histoire de Lotigueuil et de la famille. 
Gerhardt-Berthiaume, Montreal. 1889. 

King : Iberville on the Mississippi. " Harper's Magazine." 
1894. 

King : Sieur de Bienville. Dodd, Mead & Co., New York. 
1892. 

KiNGSFORD : History of Canada. Rowsell & Hutchinson, Lon- 
don. 1887-94. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 247 

La Harpe : Journal historique de V etablissement des frangais 

ct la Louisiane. La Nouvelle-Orleans et Paris. 1831. 
La Hontan: Voyages to North America. Thwaite's ed. 

McClurg, Chicago. 1905. 
Laut: The Conquest of the Great Northwest. McClurg, 

Chicago. 1908. 
Lb Clerc : First Establishment of the Faith in New France. 

Shea, New York. 1881. 

Macaulat : History of England. 3 vols. Lippincott & Co., 

Philadelphia. 1877. 
Macaulat : War of the Spanish Succession. (Essays, Vol. I.) 

Lovell & Co., N. Y. 
Margry : Decouvertes et etablissements des Frangais. 6 vols. 

Maisonneuve et Cie, Paris. 1879-88. 
Martin: History of North Carolina. Pennimen & Co., New 

Orleans. 1829. 
Martin : History of Louisiana. Gresham, New Orleans. 

1882. 
Mission du Canada^ 1672-1779. Kelations in^dites de la Nou- 

velle-France. Douniol, Paris. 1861. 

Oldmixon : British Empire in America. Brotherton, London. 
1741. 

Parkman: France and England in North America. Little, 

Brown & Co., Boston. 1892. 
Penicaut's Relation : Margry and French's Collection. 
Potherie: Bacqueville de la: Histoire de VAmerique septen- 

trionale. 4 vols. Paris. 1722. 
Proulx : A la Baie d' Hudson. Cadieux and Derome, Montreal. 

1886. 
Prowse : History of Newfoundland. Eyre and Spottiswoode, 

London. 1896. 

Quebec Literary and Historical Society, Documents of. 3rd 
series, Quebec. 1871. 



248 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 

St. Vallieb : Estat present de VEglise a Paris Urbain Couste- 

lier. 1702. 
Shea. : Early Voyages up and down the Mississippi. Miinsell, 

Albany. 1861. 
SuLTE : Histoire des Canadiens-Frangais. 8 vols. Granger 

Freres, Montreal. 1882-84. 

Tangua-Y : Dictionnaire genealogique. Sen^cal et Fils, Mon- 
treal. 1886. 

Thwaites : Jesuit Relations. 73 vols. Burroughs & Co., 
Cleveland. 1901. 

Thwaites : France in America. Harper Bros., New York. 
1905. 

Thwaites : Hennepin^ s New Discovery. McClurg, Chicago. 
1903. 

ToNTY : Relation de la Louisiane. (Journeys of La Salle.) 
Barnes & Co., New York. 1905, 

Teevor : Life of Wm. III. Longmans & Co., London. 1835. 

Voltaire: Siecle de Louis XIV. Hachette et Cie, Paris. 
1906. 

Wallace : Louisiana under the French. Clarke, Cincinnati. 
1823. 

Winsor: Cartier to Frontenac. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 
Boston. 1894. 

Winsor: The Mississippi Basin. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
Boston. 1895. 

Winsor : Narrative and Critical History of America. Hough- 
ton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. 1889. 

Wrong : Review of Historical Literature relating to Canada., 
Morang & Co., Toronto. 1897. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Abenaki Indians, 100, 101 
Abittibi River and Lake, 48 
Abrantis, Duke of, 205 
Acadia, 19, 94, 224, 230 
Agriculture, 95, 237 
Aimahle, French ship, 141 
Albany, Fort. See Fort Albany- 
Albany on the Hudson, 73, 75, 77 
Alexander VI, Pope, 211 
Alleghany Mountains, 15, 124 
Alligators, 172, 174 and note, 186, 

198 
America, English claims in, 13, 15, 
209. See also English colonies, 
Hudson Bay, Mississippi River, 
New England, New York, Vir- 
ginia, etc. 
America, French claims in, 13, 14. 
See also French colonies, Hud- 
son Bay, Louisiana, Mississippi 
River, New France, etc. 
Andastes Indians, 24 
Anglo-Indian alliances, 223 
Anjou, Duke of, 215 
Apalachicola, 145, 146 
Architecture of forts. See Pali- 
sades 
Arctic Ocean, current from, 97 
Arctic regions, French in, 134 
Arkansas Indians, 162 
Arkansas River, 170, 187, 223 
Arriola. See Riola. 
Artaguette, Diron d', 235 
Arundel, British man-of-war, 102 
Ascantia River, 169, 172 
Assigny, Gabriel Le Moyne, Sieur 

d', 216, note 
Astrolabe, 131 

Atlantic Coast, English colonies 
on, 13, 15, 124, 199, 231, 232. 



See also New England, New- 
foundland, New York, Virginia, 
etc. 
Aurora seen on Hudson Bay Ex- 
pedition, 51 

Badine, French ship, 140, note, 
144, 146, 181 

Bailey, Commander of Fort Nel- 
son, 121 

Banks, Captain, 185, 188, 189, 
203 

Barbadoes, 228, 230 

Barcia, 148 

Barrett, Jean, 35 

Bart, Jean, 38 

Baton Rouge, 169 

Battering ram, 56 

Baudoin, Jesuit Father, 100, 102, 
note, 105, 106, 108 

Bavaria, Prince of, 204 

Bay of Biloxi. See Biloxi 

Bay of St. Louis. See Matagorda 
Bay 

Bay St. Esprit. See Mobile Bay 

Bay Verte, 109 

Bayagoula Indians, 154, 165 and 
note, 168, 169, 175, 191, 192, 
198 

Bayou Plaquemines. See Plaque- 
mines 

Bayou St. John. See St. John 

Beaujeu, Comte de, commander of 
ships of La Salle's expedition, 
140-142; connection with Iber- 
ville, 179, 180, 208 

Beaver skins, 64, 81 

Begon, Intendant at Rochefort, 
140 

Bellomont, Lord, 200 



252 



INDEX 



Bethune, Lt.-Gen. in Royal Army, 
85 

Bienville (I), Frangois Le Moyne, 
Sieur de, 30, 72, 82 

Bienville (II), Jean Baptiste, 
Sieur de (Governor of Louisiana), 
31, 113 and note, 116, 137, 148, 
151, 153, 154, 162, 167, 169, 172, 
175, 177, 186-189, 191, 193, 
197-199, 215-218, 232-234, 236, 
237 

Big River. See Mississippi River 

BUoxi, 184, 186-189, 196, 208, 
215 

Biloxi, Bay of, 177, 178 

Biloxi Indians, 153, 154, 169 

Birds of the lower Mississippi, 163, 
164 

" Blink of the ice," 114 

Blizzard on Hudson Bay, 119 

Blue, color worn in Montreal, 35 

Blue Earth River, 219 

Boisbriant, 113, 189 

Bonaventure, Claude Denis, Sieur 
de, 81 and note, 99, 100 

Bonavista, 109 

Books of voyages secured by Iber- 
ville, 137 

Boston, 102, 135, 211-214, 231, 
232, note 

Boston, British man-of-war, 102 

Bourbon, Fort. See Fort Nelson 

Brach, M. de, furnishes Iberville 
with chart, 145 

Braddock, defeated by French 
force, 140, note 

Brandy furnished to Indians, 154 

Brest, 143 

Breton adventurers, 133 

Bridgar, Governor, 57 

Brisay, Jacques Ren6 de. See 
Denonville 

Bristol, Maine, 84, note 

Brouillon, Jacques Francois de 
(Governor of Placentia), 94, 99 
and note, 102-107, 111, 112 

Buccaneers, 145 

Buffalo, 219, 221 



CAiLLiERE8''(Govemor of Canada), 
182, 224, note, 225 

Calumet, or peace pipe, 154, 155, 
166 

Camp Bourbon, 120 

Camp de Grace, 120 

Canada, population sprang from 
soldiers, 21, 22; arrival of 
Charles and Jacques Le Moyne, 
28; forests, 50; Frontenac re- 
stored to command, 71; fur 
trade, 124; Iberville leaves for- 
ever, 126; days of romance 
ended, 135; Pontchartrain's in- 
terest in, 181; hostility to Iber- 
ville's projects, 224. See also 
New France 

Canadian, Iberville the first great, 
241 

"Canadian Maccabees," sobriquet 
of the Le Moyne brothers, 32, 
229 

Canadian Noblesse, 17-19, 32 

Canadians, 36, 48, 66, 63, 72, 99, 
104, 105, 107, 111, 121, 143, 144, 
151, 153, 163, 166, 173, 179, 180, 
186, 197, 212, 218, 224-226, 228 

Canoe routes from St. Lawrence 
to Hudson Bay, 47 

Canoeing, perils of, 48-50, 53, 65 

Cape Bonavista, 98 

Cape Race, 98 

Cape San Bias, 146 

Cape St. Antoine, 146 

Cape St. Francis, 98 

Carboni^re, 103, 105, 109 

Carignan Regiment, 24, 33, 34, 45, 
85. -See also De Troyes 

Carolina, 182, 184, 192 

Carolinas, The, 185 

Carthagena, 207 

Cartier, 14 

Castor, 213 

Cat Island, 153 

Cat Lake, 48 

Catalogue, Sergeant, 56 

Cataraqui, council and treaty of, 
35 and note; arrival of Fronte- 



INDEX 



253 



nac, 36. See also Fort Fronte- 

nac 
Catfish noted by French, 164 
Catholic. See Roman Catholic 
Cattle skins, 221 

Cavalier, cited, 140, note; 153, note 
Cayuga Indians, 16 
Cenis, 207, 210 
Chaleurs Bay, tract granted Iber- 

vUle, 230 
Chambly, 72 

Champlain, attacks on Iroquois, 15 
Champlain, Lake, 73 
Chandeleur Island, 152, 197 
Charles II, King of England, 43, 

182 
Charles, King of Spain, 205, 207 
Charleston, 188, 231 
Charlevoix, citations from, 39, note, 

64, 174 
Charlton Island, 62 
Chassaigne, Marie Anne Le Moyne, 

wife of Pierre Mareau, Sieur de, 

30 and note 
Chasteaumorant, 139, 144, 149-151 
Chateauguay (I), Louis Le Moyne, 

(Sieur de, 30 
Chateauguay (II), Antoine Le 

Moyne, Sieur de, 31, 86, 89, 189, 

215, 230, 232, 234 
Chaudi^re Falls, 48 
Chaudiere River, 212 
Chevaliers of St. Louis, order of, 

184 
Chicago River, 129 
Chichacha Indians, 182 
Chickasaw Indians, 189, 192, 209, 

210, 218, 221 
Choctaw Indians, 189, 192, 218, 

221 
Christian Indians, 72 
Chubb (Governor of Pemaquid), 

101 
Churchill, English vessel, 62, 63 
Clericals, 17, 22 

Coahuila, Galva Governor of, 207 
Codfish, 107, 110 
Colapissa Indians, 209 



Colbert, 38, 133 

Colbert, Jean Baptiste, Sieur de 
Seignelay. See Seignelay 

Colonial America, strife of hostile 
government for, 132 

Colonies, handicapped by home 
governments, 20-22. See also 
Dutch, EngUsh, French, Spanish 
colonies. 

Colonization keeps pace with ex- 
ploration, 19 

Columbus, Iberville followed route 
of, 144 

Commerce checked by Indians, 27 ; 
in French colonies, 222. See 
also Fur trade 

Compagnie du Nord, 44, 45, 84 

Company of English Adventurers, 
43 

Conception Bay, 98 

Conti, Prince de, 69 

Coroa Indians, 162, 165, note, 170 

Cortez, 15 

Cotton seed first planted in Louisi- 
ana, 192 

Courcelles, 35, note 

Coureurs debois, 18,20,'22,23,35,99. 
See also Canadians, Voyageurs 

Coureurs des risques, 99 

Coxe, Daniel, 185, 187 

Coxe, son of Daniel, 203 

Crozat, 237 

Cuba, 141, 142 

D'Artaguette. See Artaguette 
Dauphine Island. See Massacre 

Island 
Davion, seminary priest, 187, 199 
Deer skins, 221 
De Grafi^, 149 
De Leon, 206 

De Lisle, citation from, 216 
Denis, Claude, Sieur de Bonaven- 

ture. See Bonaventure 
Denonville, Jacques Ren6 de 

Brisay, Marquis de, 42 and note, 

45, 46, 66-70, 182 
Bering, English ship, 115, 117, 118 



254 



INDEX 



Desmazures, 79, note 

Des Muys, Captain, 104 

De Soto, 15, 129, 130, 192, 217 

De Tracy, 33 

Detroit, 19, 128 

De Troyes, 45, 56-62 

D'lberville, Pierre Le Moyne, 
Sieur. See Iberville 

Dieppe, France, home of Charles 
Le Moyne, 28 

Dog River, 216, note 

Dollard expedition, 32 

Douay, Father Anastasius, 153 
and note, 171, 175 

Drake, citations from, 74 

Dress of French residents, 35 

"Dry spot," Sauvole's. See New 
Orleans 

Ducasse, Governor of San Do- 
mingo, 182 and note, 225 

Du Luth, Daniel Greysolon, 18, 69, 
99, 128 and note 

Duquesne, 124 

Dutch colonies, 71, 82, 183 

Enflammie, French supply ship, 
214 

England, ownership of northern 
country disputed, 42; trading 
posts established by, 43; offi- 
cially at peace with France, 44 ; 
supply ships for forts, 47; 
Treaty with France, 67; ob- 
stacle to expansion of New 
France, 94; financial interests 
in America, 132; Ambassador 
dismissed by Spain, 205. See 
also English Colonies in Amer- 
ica, Peace of Ryswick, War of 
Spanish Succession, etc. 

English burghers no match for 
voyageurs, 90 

English claims to Hudson Bay 
territory, 79 

English colonies in America, 71, 
78, 82, 129, 135, 183-185, 209, 
210, 220-232. See also Atlantic 
coast, Canada, Hudson Bay, 



Mississippi River, New England, 
Newfoimdland, New York, Vir- 
ginia, etc. 

English expedition, Iberville's, 
186-189. iSee also under Iber- 
ville. 

English fishing stations of New- 
foundland, 97 et seq. 

English forts on Hudson Bay, 45, 
53, 68. -See also Fort Albany, 
Fort Nelson, Fort Rupert, Moose 
Factory, New Severn 

English Navy, Iberville plans de- 
struction of, 94 

English prisoners, hardships of, 90, 
91. 

English relations with Indians, 16, 
199. See also Fur trade 

English ships, 79, 91, 92, 100, 115- 
121, 146 

English traders despoiled by Iber- 
vUle, 125, 126 

English trading post on Mississippi 
River, preparations for, 139 

English treachery with Iberville, 
78, 79 

English Turn, 188 

Envieux, French warship, 83, 86, 
100 

Erie Indians destroyed by Iro- 
quois, 24 

Esquimaux, French supply ship, 
113 

Esquimaux, French trade with, 
115 

Estr^es, d', 38 

European politics, 16, 17, 95, 194 

Factories on Hudson Bay, 64 
Farrand, citation from, 174, note 
Feluccas, 155, 156, 177, 219 
Filibusters employed by Iberville, 

144, 207 
Fisheries of Newfoundland, 97 
Five Nations. See Iroquois Con- 
federacy. 
Florida, 15; Spanish posts in, 210 
Florida Cape, country west of, 138 



INDEX 



255 



Florida shore line, 146 

Fort Albany (Fort Kitchichouane 

or St. Anne), 53, 59-62, 64 and 

note, 78, 79, 122 
Fort Bourbon. See Fort Nelson 
Fort Frontenac, 19, 35, note, 37, 

68, 128. See also Cataraqui 
Fort Kitchichouane. See Fort 

Albany 
Fort La Boulaye, 191, 193 and 

note, 196 
Fort Maurepas, 178 
Fort Monsippi. See Moose Factory 
Fort Nelson, 53, 64, 65, 78, 80, 81, 

83, 83-92, 120, 121. See also 

Fort Bourbon 
Fort Femaquid. See Pemaquid 
Fort Prudhomme, 131 and note 
Fort Rupert, 53, 57-59, 63 
Fort St. Anne. See Fort Albany 
Fort St. Louis (on Matagorda Bay), 

207 
Fort St. Louis (on Moose River). 

See Moose Factory 
Fort St. Louis (on the Illinois 

River). See Starved Rock 
Fort Severn. See New Severn 
Fort St. Th^rese. See New Severn 
Fort York. See Fort Nelson 
Forts, Iberville's scheme for chain 

of, 223 
Fox Indians, 27, 128 
France, claims in America, 13, 14; 

officially at peace with England, 

44 ; prisoners sent to, 62 ; Treaty 

with England, 67; Department 

of the Marine, 92; Court of, in 

1695, 93; fleet of, 94; St. 

Lawrence basin under wing of, 

129; half-hearted support of 

Iberville, 200-202; affairs of 

state in, 203-214. See also Louis 

XIV, New France, etc. 
Francis I, 222 

Frangois, French frigate, 144, 151 
French, hardships overcome by, 

108; burning and pillaging by, 

110 



French colonies in America, 136, 
181, 183, 184, 220. See also 
Acadia, Canada, Hudson Bay, 
Louisiana, Mississippi River, 
New France, St. Lawrence River, 
etc. 

French cruelty at Schenectady 
74, 75 

French dominion in Mississippi 
Valley, 228 

French forts, on Ohio and Illinois 
rivers, 130; Iberville's scheme 
for chain of, 237. See also names 
of forts 

French garrisons small, 92 

French girls sent as wives, 228 

French Government, 126 

French Jesuits. See Jesuits 

French relations with Indians, 16, 
82 

Frontenac, Fort. See Fort Fronte- 
nac 

Frontenac, Louis de Baude, Comte 
de, 14, 16, 35-37, 46, 71, 73, 
78, 83, 84, 98, 99, 111, 126, 127, 
134 

Fur trade, 14, 16, 23, 27, 45, 54, 
65, 83, 86, 124. See also Beaver 
skins, Peltries, etc. 

Gagnon's "JoUiet," quotation 
from, 49, note 

Galva, Governor of Coahuila and 
Texas, 207 

Georgian Bay, 17 

Girond, French store ship, 184, 185 

Girouard, citation from, 70 

Glen, John Sander, 76 

God of Storms, 193 

Gold, influence on exploration, 22, 
54 

Governor and Company of Adven- 
turers Trading into Hudson's 
Bay. See Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany 

Grand Banks of Newfoundland. 
See Newfoundland 

Grates Point, 98 



256 



INDEX 



" Great Company." See Hudson's 

Bay Company 
Great Lakes, 14, 95, 131, 137, 182, 

189 
Great Mohawk, Indian chief, 74, 76 
Great River. See Mississippi 
Green Bay, 128 
Greenlanders, 114 
Groseilliers, 44, 53 
Guadalupe River, 207 
Gulf of Mexico, 13, 128, 130, 135, 

144, 145, 150, 152, 156, 157, 174, 

183, 206 
Gulf of St. Lawrence, 128, 183 
Gulf Seigniories, 68 
Gulf Stream, 97 

Habitants, 18 

Hampshire, English vessel, 64, 65, 
115-118, 121 

Havana, 210, 231 

Havre de Grace, 109 

Hayes River, 44, 87 

Hearts Content, 109 

Hennepin, false narrative of, 131, 
137, 167, 180 

Hidden River. See Mississippi 

Hides exported from Louisiana, 
221 

Holland, Ambassador, dismissed, 
205 

Hudson Bay, boundary of New 
France, 13; description of, 42, 
43; canoe routes from St. 
Lawrence to, 47; aspect of 
country war, 49-51; arrival of 
French at, 1686, 53; north gales 
from Upper Bay, 59; French 
masters of southern part of, 62; 
English claims to, 79; French 
triumphs on, 80, 91; Battle of, 
115-122; rivers leading to, 128. 
See also under English colonies; 
Iberville, Hudson Bay expedi- 
tion, etc. 

Hudson, Henry, discovered Hud- 
son Bay, 42 

Hudson Straits, 65, 87, 114 



Hudson's Bay, English ship, 115, 

117, 118, 120 
Hudson's Bay Company, 43, 44, 

46, 62, note, 64, 91, 122, 123 
Huguenots, 133, 188 
Huron Chief (Le Rat), 69 
Huron Nation, 17, 24, 95 

Iberville, Pierre Le Moyne, 
Sieur d'. 

Biography: ancestry, 28, 34, 
125; birth, 30; boyhood, 31-33; 
education at Sulpician Semi- 
nary, 34; first communion, 34, 
35; dress, 35; naval training, 
38, 39; woodcraft, 39, 173; 
sent to France, 39 ; personal ap- 
pearance, 45, 46, 116; lieuten- 
ancy in Royal Navy, 66; death 
of his mother and brother, 80; 
Captain of Frigates, 83, 136; 
marriage, 85; commander in 
Royal Navy, 125; Canada left 
forever, 126, 127; illness, 193, 
226; titles and decorations, 
184, 229; appointed Governor- 
General of Louisiana, 229 ; death, 
232 

Character: general estimate, 
133-136, 209, 226, 234, 235, 238- 
241 ; as a leader of men, 31, 32, 
34, 46, 52, 62, 111, 126, 141, 214, 
219; as a statesman, 229. See 
also Le Moyne family. 

Hudson Bay Expedition, 
1686-89: De Troyes in com- 
mand, 45; departure by canoe, 
March 20, 47; difficulties of 
journey, 48-52; arrival at Hud- 
son Bay, June 18, 53 ; capture of 
Moose Factory, 54-57; capture 
of Fort Rupert, 57-59; capture 
of Fort Albany, 60-62; Iberville 
sailsfor Quebec, 1687, 63; naval 
encounter with English, 65; re- 
ception at Montreal, 66. 

Schenectady and other raids, 
1690, 72-78 



INDEX 



257 



Hudson Bay Expeditions, 
1690-92: conference at Fort 
Albany, 78; capture of Fort Al- 
bany, 80; sails for France, 81; 
English retake Fort Albany, 
1692, 83; winter quarters at 
Quebec, 85 

Hudson Bay Expedition, 
1694-95: leaves Quebec, 86; 
arrives at Nelson River, 87 ; at- 
tempts to surprise Fort Nelson, 
88; death of Chateauguay 89; 
captures Fort Nelson, 90 ; leaves 
La Forest in command, 91 ; 
Fort retaken by English, 92 

Projects against the English, 
1695-96, 92-96 

Newfoundland campaign, 
1696: preparations, 98; arrival 
at Spanish Bay, 100; Fort 
Pemaquid demolished, 101 ; dif- 
ficulties with Brouillon, 102-105 ; 
fall of St. Johns, 105-107 ; raids 
the coast, 107-110; ordered to 
Hudson Bay, 111-112 

Hudson Bay Expedition, 
1697: squadron sails July 8, 
113; arrives before Fort Nel- 
son, 115; Battle of Hudson's 
Bay, 116-119; Camp de Grace, 
Camp Bourbon, 120; capture of 
Fort Nelson, 121; results, 122- 
127 

Plans for French territorial 
expansion, 125-127 

Mississippi River Expedition, 
1698-99: preparations, 133-142; 
leaves France, 143; arrives at 
San Domingo, 144-146; Pensa- 
cola, 147-150; Mobile Point, 
150; Massacre, Chandeleur, and 
Ship Islands, 151-153; Baya- 
goula and Mongoulacha Indians, 
154, 155; Gulf of Mexico, 156, 
157 ; locates mouth of Mississippi, 
158-161; begins ascent, 162- 
164; visits village of the Baya- 
goulas, 165; Tonty's passage 

17 



reported, 166; finds glass bottle 
left by Tonty, 168; starts in 
search of "fork," 169; village 
of the Oumas, 170; learns of 
Tonty's letter, 171; retreats, 
172; explores Manchec Pass, 
173; Lakes Maurepas and Pont- 
chartrain, 174; identifies river 
by means of Tonty's letter, 175; 
locates settlement at Biloxi, 177; 
sails for France, 179; reports 
to government, 180-184 

English Expedition, 1699- 
1700: sails Oct. 16, 185; 
Bienville meets Capt. Banks, 
187, 188; English diverted from 
the Mississippi, 189 

Louisiana colonization, 1700: 
returns to Biloxi, 189; ascends 
river, 190 ; joined by Tonty, 191 ; 
returns to Fort La Boulaye, 193; 
illness and efforts for colony, 
194-196 ; sends Bienville up Red 
River, 197; sails for France, 
199 

Projects against English and 
Spanish, 1701: reconnoitres At- 
lantic coast, 199-200; plans in- 
terrupted by War of Spanish 
Succession, 203-207 ; memori- 
alizes Spanish Junta, 208-211; 
urges attack on Boston and New 
York, 211-214 

Louisiana Colonization, 1701- 
1702: arrives at Pensacola, Nov. 
24, 215; moves colony from 
Biloxi to Mobile Bay, 215; visits 
fort, 216-218; sails for France, 
219; criticism of rivals, 220-222 

Projects against the English, 
1703-06: scheme for chain of 
forts on Mississippi, 222-224; 
scheme for diverting trade, 224- 
225; sufferings from jealousy 
and illness, 226-227; assigned 
to expedition against English 
coast, 1704, 228; attacks Eng- 
lish islands, 230 



258 



INDEX 



See also under names of vari- 
ous persons with whom Iber- 
ville had relations, as: Beaujeu, 
Brouillon, La Salle, Pontchar- 
train, Tonty, etc. 

"Iberville on the Mississippi," 
King's, 133, note 

Iberville River. See Accantia 
River, 173 

Icebergs, 97, 114 

Illinois country, 69, note 

Illinois Indians, 129, 131, 191, 193, 
221 

Illinois Mission, 86, note 

Illinois River, 130, 137, 176 

Incas, 15 

Indian alliances, Anglo-, 223 

Indian dress adopted by Charles 
Le Moyne, 28 

Indian language spoken by Iber- 
ville and Bienville, 167 

Indian trade, specialties for, 143 

Indians, English-French treaty ar- 
ticle concerning, 67; from the 
Upper Lakes, 69 ; Christian, 72 ; 
treaties with French, 78; in 
Newfoundland campaign, 107 ; 
Iberville's plans about, 223. See 
also under names of Indian tribes 

Invalides (Les), 93 

"Iron Hand." See Tonty 

Iroquois Confederacy, relations 
with English and French, 15, 16; 
war of extermination on other 
tribes, 23, 24; raids upon Mon- 
treal, 27; merciful to Charles 
Le Moyne, 29 ; Le Moyne broth- 
ers' bitterness toward, 32; pun- 
ished by Carignan Regiment, 33 ; 
Le Moyne's embassy to, 1684, 
39 and note, 40; Le Moynes 
evade, 47; war-cry of, 56, 121; 
Louis XIV 's design to attack, 
68; Christianized, 69; La Chine 
massacre, 70, 71; prowl about 
Montreal, 81 ; accuse English of 
cowardice, 82; hostility toward 
French, 94; Duquesne's fare- 



well speech to, 124; Maricourt 
negotiates peace with, 224; 
mourns for Iberville, 232. See 
also Cayuga, Huron, Oneida, 
Onondaga, Mohawk, Seneca In- 
dians 

Isle aux Coudres, 80 

Isle of Shoals, 84 

James II, King of England, 44, 64, 
71, 182, 205 

Jealousy towards Iberville, 226 

J^r^mie, 91, 113 

Jesuits, power in New France, 17, 
18; hopes blighted by Iroquois, 
24, 95; at Huron Mission, 28; 
hear rumors of Mississippi River, 
130; influence, 140; "Rela- 
tions" misleading, 162, 168, 170, 
171, 180; respect shown by the 
Le MojTies, 235. iSee also Hen- 
nepin, Joutel, Marquette, etc., 
also Missions 

Jolhet, 49, note, 130 

Joutel, sends Journal to Iberville, 
137; Journal cited, 140, note, 
141; return to France, 153; 
claims of, 179 

Juniper swamps, 52 

Kennebec River, 212 

Kidd, Captain, 200 

King's "Iberville on the Missis- 
sippi," 133, note 

King's "Sieur de Bienville," cita- 
tion from, 157, note, 236 

Kingsford, citations from, 78 

Kingston, Ontario, 35, note 

Kitchichouane, Fort. See Fort 
Albany 

Kitchichouane River, 60 

La Barre, Le Febre de. Governor 
of New France, 39 and riote, 42 

La Boulaye, Fort. See Fort La 
Boulaye 

Labrador, 42, 43, 91 

La Chine, 19; massacre, 70, 71 



INDEX 



259 



La Chine Mission, Indians from, 47 

La Durantaye, 69 

La Fert^, 79 

La Forest, 69 and note, 90-92 

La Hague, Battle of, 140, note 

La Hontan, citations from, 64 

Lake Champlain. See Champlain 

Lake George, 77 

Lake Michigan, 129 

Lake Nepigon, 128 

Lake Pepin, 219 

Lake St. John. See St. John 

Lake Superior, 24, 86, 128 

Lake Temiscaming, 48 

La Potherie, 56, note, 113, 116, 
189, 191 

La Salle, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de, 
explorer in New World, 18; ob- 
tains grant of Fort Frontenac, 
35, note; lieutenant of Fronte- 
nac, 36, 37; Tonty assists in 
Illinois country, 69, note; Iber- 
ville follows in wake of, 96; 
suggests territorial expansion, 
123; extent of explorations, 
128; Mississippi River explora- 
tions, 130, 131 ; death on plains 
of Texas, 131, 134; Matagorda 
Bay colony, 131, 138; friends 
eager to vindicate, 132; reports 
to Seignelay, 133; project for 
fort at mouth of Mississippi, 134; 
Iberville's conversation with, 
137; Membre's account of, 137; 
Joutel's journal of last expedi- 
tion, 137; .Louisiana added to 
the Crown by, 138; Beaujeu 
commands ships of, 140 and 
note, 142, 180; Douay compan- 
ion of, 153; mouth of Missis- 
sippi described by, 161; letter 
from Tonty for, 171, 176; in- 
correct maps used by, 179; 
urged occupation of territory 
explored, 182; design to secure 
domain for France, 200 ; hunted 
by De Leon's men, 206, 207; 
enemy of Spain, 222 



La Salle, Nicholas de, 226 and 
note, 234, 235, 237 

Laut, " The Conquest of the Great 
Northwest," 60, note 

La Vente, cure, 234, 235 

Le Ber, Catherine Jeanne Le 
Moyne, 30 and note 

Le Ber, Jacques and Jeanne, 30, 
note 

Le Clerc's " Etablissement de la 
Foi," 137 

Le Moyne, Anomyme, 30 

Le Moyne, Antoine. See Chateau- 
guay (II) 

Le Moyne, Catherine Jeanne (sister 
of Iberville). See Le Ber 

Le Moyne, Catherine Thierry Pri- 
mot (mother of Iberville), 29, 
60 

Le Moyne, Charles (brother of Iber- 
ville). See Longueuil 

Le Moyne, Charles, Sieur de Lon- 
gueil (father of Iberville), 28-30, 
32, 36, 40 

Le Moyne, Francois. See Sauvole 

Le Moyne, Frangois. See Bien- 
ville (I) 

Le Moyne, Gabriel. See Assigny 

Le Moyne, Jacques (brother of 
IbervUle). See St. H^Iene 

Le Moyne, Jacques (uncle of d'lber- 
ville), arrival in Canada, 28 

Le Moyne, Jean Baptiste. See 
Bienville (II) 

Le Moyne, Joseph. See Serigny 

Le Moyne, Louis. See Chateau- 
guay (I) 

Le Moyne, Marie Anne. See Chas- 
saigne 

Le Moyne, Paul. See Maricourt 

Le Moyne, Pierre. See Iberville 

Le Moynes (The), belonged to 
French Noblesse, 18 ; general ac- 
count of the family, 27-41; in 
Hudson Bay expedition, 46 et 
seq. ; woodsmanship, 51 ; as 
canoeists, 60; audacity of, 89; 
days of romance ended for, 134; 



260 



INDEX 



leadership of, 199; absolved by 
d'Artaguette, 235; general es- 
timate of, 240 

Le Rat, Huron Chief, 69, 70 

Lescalette, Lieutenant, 146, 148 

Le Sueur, 189, 191, 219, 221 

Little Nation, 48 

Loire, French ship, 227 

London, Treaty negotiated at, 67; 
Iberville's advices from, 139 

Long House, People of. See Iro- 
quois Confederacy 

Longitude, no instruments for de- 
termination of, 131 

Longueuil, Charles Le Moyne, 
Sieur de (father of Iberville) . See 
Le Moyne 

Longueuil, Charles Le Moyne, 
Sieur de (eldest brother of Iber- 
ville), 30, 31, 35, 70, 80, 234 

"Lords of Trade," 200 

Louis XIV, King of France, 16, 
17, 44, 45, 68, 93, 133, 135, 136, 
202, 204, 205, 208, 210, 211 

Louisiana, 113 and note, 128-142, 
181-184, 190, 192, 200, 203, 208, 
221, 224, 227, 229, 233-238. See 
also Biloxi, Mississippi River, 
New Orleans, etc. 

Louvigny, 136 

Louvre, 93 



Mackinac, 24, 70, 128 

Madeira Islands, 144 

Madrid, 204 

Maisonneuve, founder of Montreal, 

25 
"Malbancia," Indian name for 

Mississippi River, 154, 160, 171 
Manchac Pass. See Ascantia River 
Mankato Country, 19 
Manthet, Ailleboust, Sieur de, 35, 

72, 75, 136 
Maps of Mississippi, 137, 179 
Mardi Gras, Bayou, 162 
Marest, Father, 86 and note, 87, 

89,90 



Margry, citation from, 180 

Maricourt, Paul Le Moyne, Sieur 
de, 30, 31, 35, 56, 57, 64, 80, 86, 
89, 225, 229, 234 

Marin, French ship, 140, note, 144, 
165, 181 

Marquette, enters the Mississippi 
River, 130; "Relation," 137 

Marriage of Frenchmen with 
squaws, 20 

Martigny, 122 

Martin, "History of North Caro- 
lina," 149, note 

Martinique, 230 

Mascoutin Indians, 128 

Massacre (now Dauphine) Island, 
151, 216 

Matagorda Bay (St. Louis Bay), 
La Salle's post at, 131, 138; St. 
Francis of Assisi Mission, 207 

Mattawa River, 48 

Maurepas, Fort. See Fort Maure- 
pas 

Maurepas, Jerome Ph^lypeaux, 
Count of, 92, note, 133, 134 

Maurepas Lake, 174 

Membre, Zenobe, 137 

Menendez, 206 

Mesaba Mountains, 128 

Mexico, 15, 132, 209, 224 

Miami Indians, 129 

Miles, Gen., 207 

Mille Lacs, 48 

Mines, 136 

Minnesota, 128 

Missionaries, 199. See also Jesuits 

Missions among the Indians. See 
names of missions, as La Chine, 
Montreal Mountain, Saint Louis, 
etc., also names of various In- 
dian tribes 

Mississippi River, discovery of 
source and mouth, 19; French 
colonies on, 95; Louisiana and 
the, 128-142; De Soto dis- 
covers, 129; Marquette and 
Jolliet on, 130; La Salle ex- 
plores, 130, 131, 134, 137; Eng- 



INDEX 



261 



lish trading post on, 139; In- 
dian and Spanish names for, 
160; compared with St. Law- 
rence, 163; mouth reached by 
Tonty, 176; maps incorrect, 
179 ; Bienville's descent of, 198 ; 
upper river and tributaries, 199 ; 
mouth of 206, 208; French 
and Spanish claims, 209, 211; 
Iberville claims discovery of 
mouth, 213; Le Sueur's trip up, 
219 ; Iberville's scheme for chain 
of forts on, 223. See also Iber- 
ville — Mississippi River Expedi- 
tion, Louisiana, "Malbancia" 
River, Missouri River, etc. 

Mississippi, State of, 189 

Mississippi Valley, 37, 202, 225, 
228 

Missouri River, 19, 183, 199, 223 

Mistassini, Lake, 47 

MobUe, 208, 210, 215-218, 220, 
221, 226, 230, 232 

MobUe Bay (Bay St. Esprit), 138, 
141, 150, 152 

Mobile Indians, 217 

Moccasins worn by French resi- 
dents, 35, 56, 75 

Mohawk Indians, 16, 74, 76, 77 

Mohawk River, 74 

Monseignat, 72 

Monsippi, or Monsoni, Fort. See 
Moose Factory 

Montague Mission, Indians from, 
47 

Montigny, Gabriel, 35, 105, 107, 
111, 118, 187, 199 

Montreal, fur trade in, 14; forts 
at, 19; founded, 25, 26; raids 
of the Iroquois upon, 27; 
Charles Le Moyne settles at, 28 ; 
arrival of Carignan Regiment 
at, 34; blue the color worn at, 
35; Carignan Regiment assem- 
bled at, 45; canoe route west 
of, 47; Iberville received as a 
hero at, 66; affairs at, 67; 
terrified by Iroquois, 70; Mis- 



sions of the Mountain of, 72; 
Iberville arrives at, 77; Iro- 
quois at, 81 ; blue coat from, 
167; insinuations against Iber- 
ville, 224, 225 

Moose Factory (Fort Monsippi or 
Fort St. Louis), 53-57, 59, 62 

Moose River, 48, 53, 59 

Morgan, Laurent de Graff associ- 
ate of, 145 

Mougoulacha chief, has letter from 
Tonty, 171, 172; sells letter to 
Bienville, 175 

Mougoulacha Indians, 154, 165, 
note, 166, 168, 175, 198 

Mt. Desert, Maine, 102 

Muskegs, 52, 88 

Narvaez, remains of expedition 
of, 151 

Natchez, Spanish post at, 207 

Natchez Indians, 162, 165, note, 
170, 192 

Navy, French, 37, 38 

Nelson River, 53, 87 

Nesmond, Marquis de, 212 

Nevis Island, 230 

New England, 19, 71, 110 

Newfoundland, 13, 97, 213, 232, 
note, 241. For Iberville's cam- 
paign against, see Iberville. 

New France, early history, 13-26 
erection into a colony, 33; fur 
trade on Hudson Bay, 44; dur- 
ing the Spring of 1687, 68 ; con- 
test for control of North Amer- 
ica, 71 ; Iberville's plans for ex- 
pansion of, 94, 95; Northern 
frontiers safeguarded by Iber- 
ville, 126. iSee also Canada, 
French colonies, Jesuits, etc. 

New Mexico, Spanish mines in, 
201 

New Orleans, 19, 113, 177, 191 

Newport, English ship, 100 

New Severn (Fort St. Th^rese), 53, 
65, 79 

New Spain, 129, 179, 209, 210 



262 



INDEX 



New York, 135, 200, 212, 241 
Noblesse. See Canadian Noblesse 
Norris, Admiral, 110 
North America, contest for control 

of, 71; river basins of, 128 
Northwest Fox, English vessel, 64 

Ohio River, 19, 130, 182, 223 
Oldmixon, reference to Battle of 

Hudson Bay, 121 
Old Perlican, 109 
Oneida Indians, 16 
Onondaga Indians, 16, 39, note 
Opossum, 153 
Ottawa, city of, 48 
Ottawa Indians, 27 
Ottawa Missions, 49, note 
Ottawa River, 47, 48, 64 
Ouachas Indians, 165 
Ouachas River, 165 
Oumas, or Houmas, Indians, 165, 

note, 167, 187, 192 
Owner's Love, English fire ship, 

121 

Palisade architecture, 55, 70, 

74, 76, 121. See also under Forts, 

Stockades, etc. 
"Palisades," Spanish name for 

Mississippi River, 160 
Palmier, French frigate, 113, 215- 

217 
Panuco River, 129 
Paris, 93, 228 
Parkman, Francis, quotation from, 

18, 19, 56, note, 70 and note, 71 
Pascagoula Indians, 189 
Pascagoula River, 177 
Peace of Ryswick, 122, 126, 127, 

129, 134, 204, 207, 241 
Peace of Utrecht, 122, 129 
Peace pipe. See Calumet 
Pearls, 187 
Pelican, French frigate, 113-115, 

117, 118, 123, 215, 227 
Peltries, 62, 80, 92 
Pemaquid, 72, 84, 100, 101, 213, 

232, note 



Pensacola, 147-150, 178, 187, 208, 

210, 211, 215, 216 
Pentagoet, 84 
Pere, French spy, 61 
Peter the Great, 201 
Petrified trees at mouth of Missis- 
sippi, 58 
Ph61j^eaux, Jerome. See Maure- 

pas 
Ph61ypeaux, Louis. See Pontchar- 

train 
Philip, Duke of Anjou, 205 
Phipps, Commander of English 

Colonial fleet, 78 
Pirogues, 153, 164, 165, 190, 192, 

198 
Placentia, 102, 103, 107, 110 
Plaquemines, Bayou, 165 
Pocatiere, Marie Th^rese PoUet de 

la, married by Iberville, 85 and 

note 
Pointe Couple, Bayou, 170, 172 
Poll, French ship, 83, 86 
Pontchartrain, Jerome. See Mau- 

repas 
Pontchartrain, Lake, 174 and note, 

177, 190 
Pontchartrain, Louis Ph^lypeaux, 

Count of, 92 and note, 95, 123, 

127, 133, 136, 139, 181, 184, 185, 

note, 201, 208, 211, 235, 237 
Porto Rico, 206 
Portsmouth, 84, 102 
Portugal Cove, 109 
"Possum," tutelary deity of Mou- 

goulachas, 168 
Pottawattamie Indians, 27, 131, 

note 
Poverty Point, 193, note 
Primot, Catherine Thierry. See 

Le Moyne 
Prisoners, sent to France, 62; 

escape from Hudson's Bay, 

120 
Profond, French frigate, 100, 101, 

105, 113, 115, 123 
Prowse, citation from, 110 
Prudhomme, Fort. See Fort 



INDEX 



263 



Quebec, 14, 17, 19, 24, 25, 38, 45, 

65, 66, 68, 72, 78, 80, 81, 83-86, 
91, 176, 181, 191, 212, 218, 225 
Quinipassa Indians, 162, 167, 175 
Quintal, definition and use, 107 
and note, 110 

Radisson and Groseilliers, estab- 
lishment on Hayes River, 44, 53 

Red River, 170, 191, 192, 197-198, 
207 

"Relations" of Jesuit Fathers. 
See Jesuits 

Rgmonville, 136 

Renommee, French frigate, 184, 
185, 215, 227 

Repentigny, Fort at, 82 

Ribaut, Jean, 206 

Richelieu River, settlement along, 
19, 72 

Rideau Falls, 48 

Riola (or Arriola), Don Andres de 
la, 149, note, 196, 197 

River basins, three largest, 128, 
129 

Roberval, 14 

Rochefort, 31; Begon Tntendant 
at, 140 

Rochelle, France, 93, 123, 134, 143 

Rocky Mountains, 13, 19 

Rogneuse, 105 

Roman Catholics in America. See 
also Jesuits 

Rupert, Fort. See Fort Rupert 

Rupert River, 44, 47, 49, note 

Ryswick, Peace of. See Peace 

Sac Indians, 27, 128 

Sagamity, 165 

Saguenay River, 47, 80 

St. Anne, Fort. See Fort Albany 

St. Anne, French merchant ship, 78 

St. Anne, mariners' vows to, 87, 

88 
St. Anthony Falls, 191 
St. Augustine, 210 
St. Denis, Juchereau de, 189 
St. Esprit, Bay. See Mobile Bay 



St. Francis, French merchant ship, 
78, 80 

St. Francis of Assisi Mission, 207 

St. H^l^ne, Jacques Le Moyne, 
Sieur de, 30, 35, 38, 45, 55-57, 
59, 60, 64, note, 72, 75, 77, 80 

St. John, Bayou, 164, 190 

St. John, Lake, 47 

St. Johns, 101-103, 105-107, 110 

St. Joseph River, 129 

St. Lawrence basin, 129, 225 

St. Lawrence River, 36, 38, 45, 72, 
80, 96, 128, 129, 163 

St. Lawrence River, French settle- 
ments along, 14, 19, 45, 126 

St. Lawrence River to Hudson 
Bay, canoe routes from, 47 

St. Louis, Fort. See Fort St. 
Louis 

St. Louis, foimded by the Noblesse, 
19 

St. Louis, French ship, 140, note 

St. Louis, Missions of, 72 

St. Louis, order of, 229 

St. Louis Bay. See Matagorda 
Bay 

St. Martin, 116 

St. Martin, Gate of, 93 

St. Maurice River, 47 

St. Paul, Island, 26 

St. Petersburg founded, 201 

St. Therese, Fort. See New Severn 

Salamander, French war-ship, 86 

Salmon Cove, 109 

Salmon Falls, 72 

San Domingo, 138, 144-146, 151, 
182, 207, 216, 225, 228 

Santa Maria de Pensacola de Gal- 
vez. See Pensacola 

Sargeant, Governor, 61, 62 and 
note 

Sassa Kouis. See Iroquois Con- 
federacy, war-cry 

Sauvole, Francois Le Moyne, Sieur 
de, 30, 157 and note, 162, 172, 
175, 177, 186, 189, 196, 215 

Scalping parties, 71 

Schenectady, 59, 72-78 



264 



INDEX 



Schuyler, raid along Richelieu 
River, 82 

Scurvy, 90, 123 

Seignelay, Jean Baptiste Colbert, 
Marquis de, 42 and note, 45, 133, 
206 

Seigniors, 18 

Seneca Indians, 16, 67-70 

S^rigny, Joseph Le Moyne, Sieur 
de, 30, 31, 80, 86, 92, 111, 113, 
122, 189, 215, 220, note, 228, 234 

Ship Island, 153, 175, 197 

Silkworms, 221 

Silvy, Antoine, Jesuit, 49 and note, 
51, 57, 58 

Sioux country, 130 

Sioux Indians, 27, 219 

Skins of animals, 221, 222 

Slave trade, 229 

Snow shoes used by French voy- 
ageurs, 53, 77, 108 

Sorling, English ship, 100, 102 

Spade-fish, noted by French, 164 

Spain, claims based on discoveries 
in America, 15; strife for Colo- 
nial America, 132; prevailing 
dread of, 141; affairs of State 
in France and, 203-214; Iber- 
ville ostensible friend of, 222. 
See also New Spain 

Spaniards, greed of gold, 54; pro- 
fess ignorance of Mississippi, 144 ; 
called Mississippi River the 
"Palisades," 160; purpose cap- 
turing San Domingo, 207 

Spanish Bay, 100 

Spanish claims in America, 206- 
214 

Spanish colony at Fensacola. See 
Pensacola 

Spanish commerce diverted to 
French posts, 222 

Spanish deserters, 178 

Spanish maps, early, 130 

Spanish mines in New Mexico, 20 

Spanish pilot conducts Iberville's 
fleet into Gulf of Mexico, 149- 
150 



Spanish posts in Florida and 

Texas, 210 
Spanish procure masts near Apa- 

lachicola, 145 
Spanish resistance to be overcome, 

181 
Spanish settlement at Barcia. See 

Barcia 
Spanish ships at Pensacola, 208 
Spanish Succession, War of, 204- 

206, 215 
Starved Rock (Fort St. Louis), 69, 

note, 131 and note, 191 
Stockade structure of forts, 87. 

See also Palisade architecture 
Sugar cane first planted in Louisi- 
ana, 190 
Sulpician Seminary (Abb6 Quay- 

lus'), 34 
Surgeres, 144, 149, 184 
Swamp. See Muskeg 

Tadottsac, 19, 47, 49, note 

Tamaroas Indians, 191 

Tampico, 129 

Tangipahoa Indians, 162, 167 

Tassenogogoula River. See Red 
River 

Temiscaming, Lake, 48 

Tensas Indians, 162, 165, note, 170, 
192, 197 

Teredos, 186 

Territorial expansion, 123, 125. 
See also under Iberville 

Texas, La Salle's death on plains 
of, 131, 175; Indians to be re- 
duced, 207; Cenis in, 210 

Thoynard, Nicholas, 180 and note, 
220 and note, 221 

Three Rivers, 19, 25, 28, 35, 47, 72 

Thunder Bay, 128 

Titles bestowed on IbervUle, 229 

Tobacco Nation of Indians, de- 
stroyed by Iroquois, 24 

Toboggans, 48, 72 

Tohomes Indians, 217 

Tomahawks, 77 

Tontine system of insurance, 69 note 



INDEX 



265 



Tonty, Henri de ("Iron Hand"), 
69 and note, 129, 131, 137, 161, 
166-172, 175, 176, 191, 193, 199, 
218, 221, 228. See also Iberville 
— Mississippi River Expedition, 
Illinois River, Mississippi River, 
Starved Rock 

Tourville, Marshal Cownf de, 38, 140, 
144 

Traversiers, 144 

Treaty between France and Eng- 
land, 67 

Tree blazed by French, 162 

Trees of the lower Mississippi, 103. 
See also Forests 

Trinity Bay, 98 

Troubadours in New France, 20 

Tuileries (Les), 93 

Tunica Indians, 187 

Upper Bay. See Hudson Bay 

Utica, Illinois, 131 

Utrecht, Peace of. See Peace 

Vauban, 133 and note, 181, 182 
Vera Cruz, 145, 149, 178, 207, 210, 

215 
Verazzano. See Verrazzano 
Verendrye, 18 
Verrazzano, 133, 206 
Versailles, 93, 136 



Villemont, 220 

Virginia, 110, 209, 221 

Virginia and Quebec contrasted, 

181 
Virginian coast, Iberville's attack 

abandoned, 227 
Voijageurs, 50, 53, 60, 69, 80, 90, 

191. See also Canadians 

War of Spanish Succession, 204- 
206, 215 

War parties from Quebec, Mon- 
treal, and Three Rivers, 72 

War-cry of the Iroquois. See Iro- 
quois Confederacy 

Warfare, ethics of, 83 

Wasp, French frigate, 113 

Watersheds of North America, 
128 

Wells, 84 

William of Orange, 71, 133 

William III., King of England, 
203-205 

Winsor, citation from, 135 

Winter, on the St. Lawrence River, 
72; on Hudson Bay, 90 

Wisconsin River, 130 

Yellow Fever, 228, 232 
York, Fort. See Fort Nelson 
Young, English sloop, 62 



